How to Be a Pirate meets the Movie
by Victoria62015
Summary: Summary inside. Better than it sounds, I promise. First fic so please read and give me advice, I would appreciate it. I just altered the second book so it fit the movie, plus made it more humerous and more entertaining. Rated T for no good reason...
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan-fic, and I need to say I'm REALLY NERVOUS. So, anyway, there are a lot of people worried that Dreamworks won't make a good sequel for HTTYD, I would like to tell you there's already a good enough sequel made. Cressida Cowell's.

So, here is a summary of the How to be a Pirate meets the Movie.

Life is finally good for Hiccup. His father accepts him, he actually has friends now, and he's got an ever so loyal dragon always by his side. Ha, well let me tell you how fast that changed. He's now being pressured on being the rightful heir, has the new bully making his life ever so crappy (and he has to be _nice_ to him), plus is about to gain one heck of an annoying arch-enemy. He goes on a deadly adventure where he finds himself battling skullions and outcasts, being forced find a long lost treasure to prove he _can_ be the rightful heir, plus he has keep up with Viking training. What's a skinny Viking supposed to do?

So there you are, I don't find the little summaries give a story justice. Readers (plus the story itself) deserve a good summary to get them interested, so I hope this got you interested. I also have one question, that will affect the story later…

In the book, Hiccup can talk to dragons. I'm going to make this possible, but not till the end of the story. One question: Should I have you understand the dragons, also, or you infer on what the dragons said by Hiccup's reactions? I was going to go with the first thing, but a lot of people praised Dreamworks for not doing that. I honestly think if you understood the dragons, too, it would make it easier and more interesting. That's just my opinion, but, please, can you leave me a review saying yours? Pretty please?

**Disclaimer: O goodness, it's going to be hard to admit over and over again that no, I do not own HTTYD *sighs***


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, first fan-fic, so please go easy on me. I don't know how regularly I'll be updating, so it'll be a surprise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Read and Review, please! This will be from Hiccup's POV. May change, every now and then, I really don't know….**

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Swordfighting at Sea**_

I slowly opened my eyes, only to immediately close them due to the bright sun. I flung the covers over my head, trying to block out as much light as possible. But one black-beast was going to make sure I was awake….

My loyal (and ever so stubborn) Night Fury, was ready to get up; too bad I wasn't. He had a plan of his own, though, that being 'let's pull the covers off my master to annoy him.'

"Toothlesssssss," I whined, "Stop! Toothless, let go of the covers," I yanked back "Toothless, if you rip another one of my blankets, Dad will-," RIIIPP! I watched as Toothless pulled half of the blanket towards him, while the other half was still on me. I sighed "Have my head."

He just gave me an innocent-gummy smile. He then proceeded to toss the ruined blanket to the side, and pounce on me. His slimy tongue ran up and down my face, this now being the normal wake-up call I would get every morning. "Toothless! Stop!" I begged, his tongue tickled and I soon found myself laughing, "Ok!—Ok! Stop, I'm up! – I'm up!" I said between fits of laughter.

He finally got off with a satisfied grin on his face; was that a smirk? "Fine, you won this round." I said with a smile. I scratched behind his ear, making the ferocious beast purr like an over-grown cat. I chuckled a bit, how was it so easy to make one of the deadliest creatures known to man curl up like a giant cat? I reached under the bed, looking for my 'leg', if that's what you would like to call it. Strapping it to the stump which used to be my leg, I stood up and jumped a bit, as if testing it out. Good as ever.

I put on the usual green shirt, vest, and pants; then slipping my boot on. I smiled at Toothless, and he gave me his usual gummy-smile back. "Come on, bud. Dad's supposed to be getting back from trading with the other tribes today," I said, walking to the stairs. Despite it being months since I lost my leg, stairs were still always difficult for me. I took a deep breath, slowly setting my foot down on the first step. Toothless, was close behind me, in case I should fall. I put my hand on the wall, to balance myself. I then proceeded with slowly walking down the creaky stairs, jumping off the last one, proud at my great-fete. For once, I didn't face plant!

Smiling, I walked (limp, I guess is more accurate) over to the fire-place, "Toothless, you mind?" He shot a blue ball of flame at the wood. "Thanks." I walked out back, to where we kept the fish for Toothless. I grabbed a basket full, dragging it inside. "Hungry bud?" On cue, I spilled the contents of the basket on the floor. Toothless giddily jumped over to the pile of fish, sniffing for one of his choosing, then proceeded to scarf it down.

Satisfied, I walked to the kitchen to get my own breakfast. I was just pulling a piece of bread out, when a scruffy, booming voice called my name; managing to make me jump and lose my footing. I found myself on the ground, sighing with annoyance. Takes real skill to fall when you're not even walking…..

"HICCUP!" I stood up and peeked my head out of the kitchen.

"Dad! You're back early," I said limping over to him. He patted my shoulder, and smiled.

"Yep, did you do ok without me?" I opened my mouth to answer, but he interrupted me. "Oh! I brought you back something," he said, my eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he poked at the fire "We need to talk, son. You know how proud of you I am, really, but you are one day going to take over this tribe," I eyed him curiously. Good gods, what the Odin did he do now? "and you've most certainly got the brains for it, but Hiccup, you need to toughen up," He said, flexing his muscles. "Don't take this the wrong way, Hiccup, but I've heard some of the tribe over talking and they think that maybe someone else would be better." My face fell at this, sure I was weak and skinny, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be a good leader, did it? "I'm sorry son, but the tribe has the right to choosing a new leader if they don't like the current one, and you know who's next in line if they do, you cousin, Snotlout."

Right. Snotlout. My all brawns-no-brains cousin, Snotlout. There had been arguments about who would be the better heir to the tribe before, but us Vikings don't like to break tradition. The eldest son to the chief would be heir, and if something happened to him, the next in line would take over. Me being the only son to Stoic the Vast, my cousin Snotlout was next in line.

"Right, Dad, but what does this have to do with what you brought back?" I asked, eyeing him curiously.

He stopped poking the fire, "You remember how every couple of years, all the tribes would get together to feast, and compete in games and all that fun?"

"Yeahh…." I slowly answered.

"Right. And you and all the other heirs would have to hang out together? Put some more wood on the fire."

I felt my face fluster, "Yes….." I said, my voice cracking a bit. Because, as you can easily guess, all the other heirs never liked me. Being a skinny wimp, they found me more as a punching bag other than a fellow heir. Why they made all the heirs hang out together was a mystery to me, all we did was fight about who was in the best tribe, and who was stronger. I dreaded those weeks we spent together. Toothless stopped eating and looked up at me, feeling my discomfort. I picked up some wood to throw in the fire, trying to hide it my scowling face.

"Well guess who we ran into! The Barbaric Tribe! You remember their heir? Let's see, short curly hair, rather short and chubby, had a nose ring, the most rancid breath…" he continued, but I clearly remember who he was talking about.

My face was drained of all color, my arms went limp and the wood I was holding fell to the ground, scattering everywhere.

Oh good gods…

As if on cue, a hairy fat boy my age busted through the door, flinging his arms up.

"Hello, my old friend Hiccup! Long time no see!"

_Oh Good Gods!_

The fat hairy boy put me in a head-lock, and gave me a noogie. "How you been?" he said smirking a bit, but like my dad noticed. Toothless tensed up ready to pounce, but I stopped him.

"It's ok, bud!" I said, putting my arms up to block him the best I could. "Dogsbreath! Uh, huh, ummm…..what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to pry his dirty arms off of my neck. Dogsbreath the Duhbrain. Probably the worst out of all the people who used me as a punching bag…great gift, dad! He never liked me, being best-buds with Snotlout, he thought that Snot was the rightful heir, and made sure I knew it. He _loathed_ me.

He practically threw me out of his grasp, almost knocking me to the ground. "Why, your dad asked me! He thinks that I'll be a good role-model for you!" Dogsbreath glowed, only I could see the evil in his eyes.

"Plus," my Dad cut in, "His father would like him to learn how to train dragons, so he can teach his tribe," he explained.

My eyes were bulging, and all the color was absolutely gone in my face. I laughed nervously, why on earth would my dad bring back somebody like _Dogsbreath_ to be a role model for me? Poor, clueless man… "Soooo….. H-how long will you be staying with us D-Dogsbreath?" I gave another nervous chuckle.

"Aww, only one, two, maybe even three years," he said making sure I saw his evil smile.

"_Three years?" _my voice squeaked. Three years?

"Yep!" he shouted, almost proud. "Only I'll be staying with your good dear cousin, Snotlout. Spitelout offered, and who am I to refuse?" he said.

Oh, even better. Him and Snotlout always liked to plan ways to make my life miserable. I was just hoping that the little friendship I gained from Snotlout would be enough….. I was again chuckling nervously, I could feel myself twitching.

"Eh hem," my Dad coughed to get my attention, "Hiccup, you ok son, you look like you just saw a ghost," my Father looked at me with concern. No, Dad, it's all right, I just think that my life may now be in danger is all, other than that I'm just PEACHY!

I just nodded to him. "Well good, hey, aren't you going to be late for Training? Take Dogsbreath with you, he'll be attending now and he doesn't know the way. Besides, you guys are learning to swordfight at sea today, is what Gobber tells me! Won't that be fun?" he said, smiling proudly about his great plan.

Yeah, fun and deadly. Woo-hoo. "Oh, uhhhh," I looked outside at the position of the sun. "Thor! I am going to be late! Come on, Toothless!" I yelled, already limping out the door.

"Right behind, you, Hiccup!" Dogsbreath said, almost maliciously. He followed right after Toothless, slamming the door behind him.

I was almost hyperventilating, due to the eerie silence that followed our walk. Dogsbreath didn't say a word for about half the time; that was until we were out of view of other people.

Before I knew it I was being pinned against a wall to a house. Toothless immediately growled and prepared himself to lunge, but I had to stop him. What would I tell my dad when Dogsbreath came home with missing limbs?

"Stop, Toothless! It's ok!" I said, putting my hands up to motion him to stop.

"Oh, you're everything but ok!" he snarled. Toothless didn't pounce, but stayed in position just in case he decided this was one of the moments where he was allowed to disobey me. "The great Dragon-Tamer, ha! You're still the weak, scrawny little, screw-up, _useless _Hiccup you always were! I don't care that you defeated a big dragon, or lost your leg, or the fact that most people call you the 'Hero of Berk' now, all I care about is the reputation your giving the Vikings!" he pressed me harder against the wall, as if to show his point more. Geez, he sure could hold a grudge...

He set me down, but still kept a firm grip on the back of my neck. Aww man, this is just like when we used to get together with the other tribes. "Sorry ol' Hiccup, but you're just not fit to be the heir to this tribe; and what makes matters worse is that your Dad seems to think that _I'm_ going to show _you_ how to be the heir. I'm sorry to say that that's just not happening." He said, almost speaking soothingly, like I was heart-broken that he wouldn't teach me how to be the heir to the tribe. Pfff, yeah, if that's what he would like to call it. "Now, let's go to training." He said, shoving me forward. Toothless was right by my side with a worried look. I petted the top of his head to show him I was alright, well, sort-of.

Odin help me, it was going to be a long 3 years.

O~~~~~~O

"Welcome class, to swordfighting at sea!" Gobber boomed. "Isn't the weather just fine?" He said, looking up at the heavens, gesturing to the great storm-clouds above. Yes, it was storming. Thor was seriously annoyed, the sky was constantly pouring down water, and occasionally letting out a loud boom to show everyone who's boss. Perfect day for learning how to swordfight on the open waters, well at least in Gobber's opinion.

"Umm, sir, don't you think that, I don't know, maybe we shouldn't be sailing when it's storming like this?" I asked, seriously what was going on in that man's mind.

"Of course not, Hiccup! Storms are the perfect time for a little sailing, they toughen ye up!" Gobber explained, looking at me as if I was completely stupid for even thinking that.

"Oh right, I forgot you're crazy," I whispered to Astrid, sitting beside me. She smiled slyly at my comment.

"What was that, boy?"

"Nothing, sir," I said, smiling to myself. He then continued to tell 'about the time where I was sailing and the kraken itself took m' hand!' I'm also pretty sure a dragon, whale, and even a small bird with spikes for feathers took the same hand…..

"You know one day you're going to get thrown out of training for saying stuff like that," Astrid whispered to me.

I smiled "Oh, Thor forbid me being stripped of the many opportunities I have to kill myself!" I replied, sarcastically.

"Yeah, haha and all, but what would your Dad think?" she said raising an eyebrow. I sighed, darn you Astrid, and all of your good points.

"Fine. You make a point." I said defeated.

"I always do," she said, satisfied with herself.

"NOW," Gobber boomed, "Tuffnut, I nominate ye as the first boy to fight."

"Huh, what? But wait!" Tuffnut argued.

"Don't argue with me, boy! Now, who will like to be his opponent?" I saw Dogsbreath glower at me, then nudge Snotlout to encourage him to fight. Snotlout, shook his head back and forth absolutely refusing to fight Tuff. Sure Snot wasn't the brightest in the pack, but he wasn't absolutely _stupid_. Fighting Tuff was, well, tough. He was strong, could maneuver easily, plus his Father taught him early-on how to swordfight. You'd have to be a real dare-devil to fight Tuffnut in a swordfight. Wait, hmmmm…I have an idea.

"I'll do it!" I said raising my hand and standing up. This'll show Dogsbreath…

Everyone's jaw dropped simultaneously, Fishlegs fell off his seat. Toothless nudged me and whined, even he knew this was a bad idea. But I was known for bad ideas, right?

"Hiccup! Are you crazy? You're going to kill yourself!" Astrid whispered. Despite the concern in her voice, her eyes were almost narrowed slits. She may seem tough but it's nice to know she cares...

"Astrid, I'll be fine. There are wooden cases on the swords, remember? The worse that can happen is I get a concussion," I tried to explain.

"You're already missing half a leg! You won't be able to dodge or anything! Are you completely crazy?" She practically hissed.

"I think we already determined that," I said, then stood up done with the conversation. Gobber handed me a sword, and Tuffnut a sword; both with wooden covers on thankfully.

"Ok, Hiccup, Tuffnut, when I lift my hand away, start got it?" He said, addressing us both. We both nodded. He gave me a strange look, as if to say 'You can back out now'. He sighed, defeated. "Ok—ready, one, two…." And with that he lifted his hand away.

Well, this was going to be interesting.

**Disclaimer-*Cries* Don't remind me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's the second chapter! I'm glad this is going better than I thought, I hope you guys like this chapter **** Thanks to my reviewers and anyone who favorite'd or alert'd this story, it means a lot. So, without further ado, here's chapter two! (Hey! That rhymes!)**

**Disclaimer: No. I own nothing from HTTYD. Although the dvd is going to be out Oct. 15! Whoo-hooooo! With an all new mini-venture! Can't wait!**

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Some Technical Difficulties. . .**_

Right as Gobber lifted his hand away, Tuffnut swiped at my chest. I gasped surprised he'd come at me with so much force, barely maneuvering out of the way before it came in contact.

"Don't let him catch you, Hiccup!" Ruffnut advised, now standing.

Tuffnut paused for a moment with a surprised look on his face, he wasn't expecting me to be able to dodge and move so quickly; heck even I was surprised.

He swung even more violently at my head.

I ducked.

"Go, Hiccup!" Astrid cheered. This was getting exciting now, even the dragons were watching with interest. Toothless looked more worried than interested. . .

Tuffnut was getting aggravated now, we had all watch him fight with his dad; he wasn't used to not hitting someone without ease. He growled in frustration and swiped harder at my head.

I ducked again.

This time he swung with such force, that he staggered forward a bit.

"You've got it Hiccup! Use his weight against him!" Astrid encouraged.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tuffnut turned back and confronted her.

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean," Astrid smiled slyly, listeners chuckling behind her. Even I couldn't hold back a little snicker. I couldn't help it, this was great!

Tuffnut heard my little snicker, and turned back wildly, eyes blazing with frustration and anger. "Ok, that's it! I was going to go easy, but now I have other ideas," he growled.

He flipped his sword in his hand a bit, and before I knew it he was running at me, his weapon lifted high. He was about to bring it down on my head, before I decided to run to the back of him. The sword met the air, catching Tuffnut off guard and he fell over from the force he was using. Now everybody was standing up, smiles of excitement on their faces. Guess nobody expected me to last this long. I was bubbling with pride.

Then I tried to swing at him. . .

I had seen some sword-fighting moves in books, and decided to go for one of those. I tried a move I was particularly fond of, the Destroyers Defense. In my mind I did it perfectly, with ease. But when I tried to tell my arm what to do, it looked clumsy and I almost face-planted on the ground.

I heard Dogsbreath trying to hold back a snicker, while everybody else looked at me like I had grown two-heads. "Hiccup, what was that?" Astrid asked. I honestly didn't _know_ what it was. My pitiful attempt to look cool in front of the class?

I simply shrugged and laughed nervously, before gasping and dodging another one of Tuff's blows, this time at my feet. I had jumped to avoid the sword, but the deck was slippery from the rain and my stupid fake-leg slipped out from under me. My head contacted hard with the deck, and I lost the grasp on my sword. It slid over to Tuffnut. He picked it up and examined it, as if it was something new to him. He smiled maliciously.

And tossed the sword over the side and into the ocean.

Everyone gasped, Dogsbreath gained an evil gleam in his eye. Toothless tried to pounce on Tuff, but was stopped my Gobber.

"Oh gods! Can one of ye help me hold th' beast down before he decides to kill Tuffnut!" Gobber complained. Everyone had jumped up to help Gobber, but Tuffnut kept focusing his glare at me. Then he did something crazy.

He tossed his sword to the side, where it promptly slid in front of Dogsbreath.

Everyone gasped once again, nearly letting go of their grip on Toothless. I looked at his sword, then back at him; I felt my eyes widen with surprise, I even think my jaw dropped.

"Now to do something I really enjoy: Hand to hand combat," he declared.

Ohhhhh, I'm so screwed.

He had me in a headlock before I could blink, squeezing hard enough so that no air could enter my lungs.

"Cry uncle! Or better yet, submit and give up so we can all go home!" he yelled.

I would've of been offended, Tuff and I had some sort-of friendship after the battle with the Green-Death. But he fought like this even with his own sister; and I honestly expected it. Then again that doesn't mean I was going to give up and again look useless in front of the class.

"N—No, way!" I choked out, barley able to breath.

He growled a bit, frustrated his threat didn't work. He squeezed tighter around my neck, and me being me, I couldn't help but let out a little gasp of pain.

I heard Toothless whine a bit, and when I looked over he had his mouth open, ready to. . . . .

"Wait!—," I tried to talk, "Tuff! G-Get out of the way!"

"What?" he angled my head to look at him, "Why?" he asked, confused.

Toothless let go of a ball of blue, streaming fire; hitting Tuffnut it the uhh, well, in the bottom.

Right when the fire contacted him, he instantly threw me to the grown and yelped in pain. I sat there, clutching my throat and struggling to breathe, while he hopped around the deck clutching his, umm, bottom.

"Ahh! I am _hurt_! I am very much _hurt!_" He screamed, frantically running around trying to cool his bottom down. Gobber now had his hand clamped down on Toothless's snout, scolding him for burning Tuff. While everyone was distracted holding Toothless down, cooling off their butt, or in my case trying to breathe, Dogsbreath decided to make this more interesting.

When no one was looking, he picked up Tuffnut's sword, and ever so slyly slid the wooden cover off. He gently set it back down, catching my gaze as I stared at him wide-eyed. He gave me his signature evil smile, and saluted me with two fingers. I honestly didn't know what to think. . . I just sat there flabbergasted at Dogsbreath's actions. He really didn't care _what_ happened to me!

Tuff finally stopped prancing around the deck, and gave an evil glare to me. "Oh, that's it, HICCUP!" and continued to grab for his sword, not noticing the cover gone.

"Wait! Wait, Tuff! Your sword, the cover's gone!" I frantically tried to explain to him, but he wasn't listening. All he knew was that he was mad, and he tended to have temper issues. He lifted the sword high above his head, causing it to shine, and Toothless noticed.

Toothless was now struggling harder, whimpering and whining. "What's gotten into ya', ya' stupid beast!" Gobber yelled, annoyed with the dragon. Toothless frantically gestured with his head to the sword that was now missing a cover, and Gobber's jaw dropped. "Tuff, boy! Stop, your cover's gone!" he screamed trying to get Tuff's attention.

Again, Tuffnut couldn't hear. He brought the gleaming sword down, expecting it to jab me in the gut. I barely rolled out of the way. I was fighting to impress the class, but now I was fighting for my life. The sword met the deck with harsh-force, making everyone else to glance over and notice the missing cover.

"TUFFNUT! STOP!" Astrid yelled, eyes bulging at the fact that the cover had 'magically disappeared'. He once again brought his weapon down, this time trying to hit my legs; I quickly pulled them to the side and he met the deck once again. Only instead of this being a good thing, it only fumigated him more.

"Stop, you idiot! You're going to KILL him!" Ruffnut screamed at her brother.

"Tuffnut, calm down!" Fishlegs tried.

"Yeah, man, you're going to KILL him!" Snotlout yelled. Dogsbreath just pretended to look concern, yet you could still see a hint of pleasure in his eyes.

"He can't hear any of ye! I seen it before on th' battlefield, men'll get mad an' practically lose their minds, not caring who or what's in danger! He can't tell what he's doin!" Gobber tried to explain Tuffnut's wild behavior.

Tuffnut's eyes were now slits, it reminded me of when the Nightmare tried to kill me in the training ring. He was swinging the blade wildly, not caring what it made contact with as long as it hit _some_ part of me. I tried once again to get him to listen, "Tuffnut, please, stop! Tuffnut, you're gonna kill me!" I begged. Instead of stopping or even pausing, he tried to bring the sword down on my head. I quickly ducked, and tried to hit his legs with my metal leg, so he would trip and I would have a chance to get up.

He yelped in pain a bit, before meeting the ground hard. I scrambled to stand up while he laid there and growled with anger. Finally on both of my 'feet', I tried to run to the other side of the boat before he could get up. Seeing my escape, he leaped up and quickly swiped the sword to meet my good ankle.

I immediately felt the sting in my ankle, and gasped at the sudden pain. I fell to the ground, now unable to walk properly.

"Hiccup!" I heard Astrid shout from the crowd. Toothless was growling and struggling harder against the grasp of the 6 burly Vikings. They couldn't let him go, or he'd kill Tuff for sure. . . What were they supposed to do? Astrid let go of Toothless for a moment to come help me, but Gobber got in the way.

"Don't, las'! Or he'll end up killing the both of ya'!" he said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her back.

I turned on my back to face Tuffnut, still with the angry glare set on me. He slowly walked towards me, and on instinct I backed up, right into a trap. I was now cornered on the side of the ship, nowhere to run or hide. He laughed almost evilly, satisfied with himself.

"Sorry, Hiccup, I win this round," He glowered, and raised the blade above his head, ready to strike.

Breathing heavily, I bent my head down in a pathetic attempt to protect myself.

Shouts of 'Don't!' and 'No!" and 'Stop idiot!' came from the on-lookers, but nothing stopped him. He couldn't hear them, nothing helped. The joys of battle reached his eyes, and he was ready to strike. He just was about bring the blade down, when the boat lurched forward.

That would've been the end of me, if it wasn't for a wave that brought the boat up and back down again, causing it to strike an object harshly. It instantly holed the boat. The lurch caused everyone on the ship to fall forward, right before the boat split in half on the spot because of what it hit. I knew we should have taken a stronger boat when it was storming outside!

The ship quickly sank to the bottom. One moment I was lying on the deck, the next I was drowning in the cold, harsh sea.

I used to be a great swimmer, swimming was one of the things I was actually _good_ at. That was before I lost my leg. The heavy-metal replacement was weighing me down, and I was being dragged under. I kicked my good leg and swung my arms wildly trying to keep myself afloat, but the metal leg just weighed too much. I was being dragged under the cruel water within seconds.

I held my breath for as long as I could, but it wasn't long enough. Just as I took a gulp of the salty water, I felt something rough under me. Before I knew it I was above the water, coughing up the salt and water I had breathed in. I took a couple of deep breathes to try to compose myself. I looked down to see myself draped over Toothless's neck; I patted the black-scaly flank that was under me.

"Thanks buddy," I said. I scratched him in his favorite place, making him croon. "Bud, you won't be able to swim back with me draped over your neck. It's a long swim to shore, I'll drag you down and you'll get tired." I explained. He whined a bit at this, I couldn't swim on my own and he couldn't swim right with me on his neck. Luckily, I saw a wooden object, probably from the wreck, floating close by. "Hey bud, think you'll be able to swim to that piece of wood?" I asked him, as if he could answer. Instead he just swam to the piece of wood, dropping me off on it.

With that, I used my good leg to propel it to shore, with Toothless close by. This took an extremely long time, considering the fact I only had one leg to kick with. Toothless eventually decided it be easier if he pushed me and the wooden object to shore. It took about half an hour to 45 minutes to get on land.

Right when we were on sand, Toothless and I both sprawled out exhausted from the long swim; Toothless especially. I petted his snout, "Good job, bud. Thanks," I said, making him croon again.

"Hiccup! You ok, boy?" It was Gobber. Him and the others had been little-ways down the beach. They all sprinted over to meet Toothless and I. I sat up.

"I'm fine, my metal leg weighed me down; but Toothless helped," I said, petting the dragon again. Ruffnut wacked Tuffnut upside the head.

"You idiot! You nearly killed him!" she scolded. Tuffnut widened his eyes in surprise.

"I did? How? Just because I hit him with a sword that had a wooden case on it didn't mean I was going to kill him-," he said, instantly cut off by Astrid.

"Yeah! Well guess what! The wooden case wasn't on the sword, dip-wad!" she screamed, outraged at his lack of knowledge.

"It wasn't? Well who took it off?" He said, surprised on what he had just heard.

"I don't know!" Astrid yelled, then considered what he just said. She squinted her eyes, confused. "_Who did take it off?"_ she questioned, turning to the group.

Everyone looked at each other, really considering the statement. Confusion took over everyone's face, nobody knew why anybody would want to kill me. I did. I knew exactly who did it. Like I could tell, though, he'd do the deed himself if I did.

Dogsbreath shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe it fell off when he tossed it to the side," he covered himself. Everyone then looked at each other again, deciding this was a good explanation and nodding their heads.

"I suppose so," Astrid said, agreeing with the rest of them.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I really don't know what took over me," Tuffnut apologized, worry crossing his face.

"Its fine, Tuffnut," I said, quickly cut-off by Astrid.

"How's your ankle?" Oh. My ankle. I forgot about that. Bad part was just as I remembered, it started stinging again.

"It stings a bit from the salt-water," I pulled up my pant leg to look at the gash. It was worse than I thought, "I should be ok to walk on it, but I don't know, it looks infected."

Gobber bent down to look at the cut. "It sure does. Don't worry, it'll be easy to fix up once w' get back," he said, giving me a bit of a smile. I smiled back. "Hey, what is that you floated back on, anyway?" he asked.

"I don't know, just a box from the looks of it," I answered back. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid went to go examine the box.

"Sure is shaped funny," Fishlegs commented. I shrugged. I was oddly shaped. . .

Tuffnut began to apologize again. "I'm really sorry Hiccup! Did I do that to your ankle?" he asked. I nodded, a little unsure if I should have told him. "Aw, man! I'm sorry, I really don't know what was wrong with me! I mean I was just-,"

"Hey Hiccup. . ." Astrid cut off Tuff, to get my attention.

"Yeah?"

"This ain't no box!" Snotlout said.

"Well then what is it?" I asked, now confused.

"Ha, Haha, you're not gonna believe this. Hiccup, this is a coffin!" He answered

_A What?_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I thank all of my reviewers! You're the best! This chapter will be interesting. . . hope you guys like it! I'm going to try to follow the spirit of the movie more, Idk I read it and I was aiming for the feeling you got when you watched the movie, but I didn't. Idk I'm just paranoid. And now I'm ranting, so I'll just shut up. And here would be, chapter 3! (Wow I'm starting to like this rhyming thing :p )**

**Disclaimer: In my freak'n dreams!**

_**Chapter 3**_

_**The Many Reasons Why People Shouldn't Open Coffins**_

I sat there, mouth gaping. I was stunned. Had a coffin just saved my life? Ironic, right?

I really didn't know how to react to this: so what do I do? I burst out into to laughter, that's what.

"Hiccup did you hear me? I just said this is a _coffin!_" Snotlout said, looking at me like I had gone crazy. Honestly- I think I had.

Finally able to breathe, I answered back, "Yeah, I heard you, Snot." And with that came more laughter. Everyone looked at each other, absolutely lost with my behavior.

"Hiccup did you swallow too much sea-water? You're hysterical!" Astrid said, walking over and patting me on the back.

I tried to calm myself down enough so I could talk, "Yeah, ha, I'm totally, haha, totally fine!" Another fit of laughter, "It's just the fact I just rode to shore on a coffin is all!" And with that, I burst into more laughter.

"The boy's gone mad!" Gobber exclaimed. Yes, yes I had.

"Toothless, you mind?" Astrid asked now looking at Toothless. He nodded, and thwacked me upside the head with his tail. Very hard, might I add.

"Oww!" I complained, then sighed. Well at least I wasn't laughing anymore. I rubbed the back of my head, "Thanks bud, I think I needed that." He grunted, as if to say 'anytime' before lying his head back down. I sighed again, "Sorry." All I got were some weird stares, and Dogsbreath trying not to burst into laughter himself. Well, this day was coming to a great start. . .

Snotlout broke the awkward silence, "Ummm, yeah, now that Mr. Giggles is done over here," I glowered at him a bit, "what do we do with it? You know, with the coffin?"

"Or here's a better question, _who does the coffin belong to?_" Ruffnut said. We all looked to each other, as if one of us knew the answer. We all let our eyes drift to the coffin, now everyone circling around the curious sea weed covered, rotted piece of wood.

Hesitantly at first, I gingerly glided my fingers over the top of it, feeling bumps of what was probably writing. "Hey, I think there's some writing on the top of it," I said. I lifted away any seaweed, and did my best to clean it up so that the writing was barely manageable to read. On the top were big letters:

**BEWARE!**

**DO NOT OPEN THIS COFFIN!**

"I honestly wasn't planning to," Fishlegs piped up. He was quickly hushed by everyone trying to read.

Under that was some scraggly-looking letters carved with a sloppy hand, stained with something red that once was probably blood. I shuddered a bit at the thought. The words read:

"**Cursed be who disturbs the remains of Grimbeard the Ghastly, most feared and greatest Viking who ever struck terror into the Inner Isles. . ."**

Fishlegs squeaked after reading this, everyone one else dumb-struck. Grimbeard the Ghastly was a vast and terrifying legend: and my great-great grandfather.

"This is Grimbeard the Ghastly's coffin. . ." Astrid breathed out. None of us could believe what was before our eyes.

'The Lost Treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly' was a tale known by every Viking in my tribe. It told of Grimbeard's vast treasure he gained through his great bravery, and his tendency to show no-mercy. He was absolutely feared by all, even us today; despite the fact he's been dead for almost one-hundred years.

Grimbeard was tough, merciless, and most of all greedy. He refused to let anyone near his precious treasure, so he hid it away. And with it the most famous tale of all- the Dragon Stone. The Dragon Stone was mostly believed a myth, because it most likely was. The Dragon Stone enabled you to _speak_ with dragons. Sure dragons understand you, but with this magical stone, you could understand them. Do I believe it? When I was a child, yes. But now, I honestly doubt such a thing.

Tuffnut was the one that broke the silence this time, "We should open it!"

"What! Are you crazy? Did you even read what was at the top?" I questioned. Who in their right mind would open a coffin that clearly said 'Do Not Open' on the top?

"Well what if the treasure is in there and that's just a fake warning or something!" He said, I stared at him like he had gone mad. "Well what if it is in there? Come on you gotta be curious on what's really in that coffin!"

I officially decided that he had gone mad. "Ok, well here's an idea: Maybe there's _**a dead body **_in the coffin! Now correct if I'm wrong, cause that's just a guess!" I retorted sarcastically.

"Alright, Alright! Hush, the both of ya'. W'r gonna take this back, an' let the chief look at it, everyone got that?" Gobber interrupted, annoyed with our little spat. We all nodded back to him. "Good, Snot, Tuff, Ruff, carry the coffin back."

"What? I'm not touching that thing!" Ruffnut argued.

"You're going to and you're gonna deal with it, got that, las?" Ruffnut rolled her eyes and nodded. With that, they all picked up the coffin and rested it on their shoulders. "NOW!" Gobber bellowed, "Looks like we ended up on the other side of the island. Lucky us! Only an hour and a half's walk! Maybe even two hours!" Gobber said as if that was a good thing. Everybody groaned.

Gobber started at a brisk pace. We all stumbled, mumbling curses after him. Sure, we could've just flown back on our dragons. But Gobber insisted that 'we get off our lazy bums for once an' exercise!' so we just walked.

"Hiccup!" I turned around to see Astrid trying to catch up with me. "Will you be able to walk on your ankle?"

"I should be fine, it's doesn't hurt it just looks bad," I answered.

"Oh, good." A bit of an awkward silence followed. Sure Astrid and I were perfectly fine in front of other people, but when it was just the two of us things were usually quiet, I didn't want to say anything that made me look more stupid than I already was.

I sighed, deciding to take my chance. "Umm, so, how did I do?"

"Uh, with what?" she asked. She knew what I was talking about. . .

"You know, the sword-fighting? Remember? When Tuffnut almost killed me. . ." I said.

"Ohhhh, that!" she said, as if she didn't know what I was talking about in the first place. "Yeah, ummm, you were good at the dodging!"

I eyed her a bit, "Yes, but what about when I tried to swing?" Her face fell ever so slightly, but still kept a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Uh, hahuh," she said, laughing nervously, "You, you—," she tried to think of the right words. Not coming up with a nice way to put it, she sighed. "You looked like and infant with a broken arm trying to swing a sword that weighed two times heavier then himself," she said. Geez, she could of said it a little nicer.

A frown grew a bit on my face, "Really? That bad?" She nodded.

"Well, maybe you just need a better sword! A heavier one maybe?" she lied. I decided to go with it.

"Yeah, it did feel a little light in my hands. Yeah, that's it!"

"And you need to practice, _a lot_," she added. I nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Just some practice and a new sword and boom! I'll be a sword-fighting champion!" Astrid smiled meekly, and gave me a thumbs up. I'm pretty sure I saw Toothless role his eyes. . .

"I honestly don't think practicing will be enough."

I turned around to see Dogsbreath, with that same smirk still playing on his face. Great, what was he up to now?

Toothless immediately rushed to my side and growled at Dogsbreath, Astrid looked back and forth confused. "Um, Astrid, right?" He said, smiling normally to not look suspicious. I scowled at him.

"Yes," she said.

"Mind giving me and Hiccup here a moment?" he said, looking innocent. Astrid looked at Dogsbreath, then me. She saw the distress in my eyes and nodded, giving me a reassuring smile.

"Sure," she said, and walked away. If I knew Astrid, she'd be listening somewhere close.

He nodded to her, and when she was gone that evil glare entered his eyes once again. He walked up to me, arms crossed. "You got lucky, useless. If it wasn't for that cursed coffin that sunk the boat," he said, almost to himself. He laughed a bit, "I promise you, if there weren't so many people around right now you'd be pinned to the ground." His eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed.

Toothless growled a warning to him; I patted the dragon on the head trying to calm him down. I decided it was time to ask the question that had been playing in my mind ever since Dogsbreath came here, "Dogsbreath, why do you hate me so much?"

His face furrowed, and almost looked taken aback by the question. "_Why do I hate you?_ It's not obvious?" he paused, now laughing at the so-stupid question. "You're not _fit_ to be leader, Hiccup!" He whispered, but his words still stung. I flinched. "You know it! And yet, somehow, you're loved by everyone! Just because you befriended that stupid beast!" Toothless growled in defense, "You should'a killed it when you had the chance!" He practically spat. I felt my arms tense, the anger inside me started to boil.

"Shut-up, Dogsbreath! You went too far bringing Toothless into this!" I said, advancing towards him. I really wanted to hit him, maybe Dad wouldn't mind if he came home missing a _few_ limbs.

"No, you listen to me!" He said, closing the distance between us and grabbing the collar to my shirt. He narrowed his eyes, almost hissing now. "You-," he paused a bit, "do not deserve to be leader! And all of the sudden you're a big-shot cause you lost a limb and killed one dragon," He glowered. Ok, did he even know how big the dragon was? "We all could've done it, but nope. You did, and you get all this credit!" He spit in my eye. "Well I'm gonna make sure you know where your place is." He threw me down, and stalked off. I tried to catch my breath, and wiped his spit from my eye. Toothless nudged me a bit to make sure I was ok. I smiled meekly and patted his head.

"Hiccup! Are you ok?" It was Astrid. She was right beside me with a worried look. I knew she was listening.

"I'm, I'm fine, Astrid."

"Hiccup, I almost think he's _jealous_ of you," she said. I nodded a bit, not meeting her gaze. She frowned. "Hiccup was he the one that took the case off Tuff's sword?"

Still not meeting her gaze, I sighed, then slowly nodded. Her lips pressed together, and she glanced over at the burly boy walking ways ahead. "Yeah, well you tell me when he messes with you. You know I can beat him up. I'm surprised Toothless over here didn't maul him," she said, gesturing to Toothless.

"Astrid, don't. I made Toothless stop, what would I tell my Dad if Dogsbreath came home all beat up? Most of all, how would _Dogsbreath's _dad take it?" I said, trying to prove my point.

She looked down, and thought about. She sighed, defeated. "Good point. But still, it's not right for him to mess with you like that. I'm intervening next time, whether you like it or not," she said, a taunting smile creeping on her mouth.

"Thanks, Astrid," I said, finally looking at her.

"Mhm," and with that, she walked off. The rest of the walk was quiet, mainly me trying to gather my thoughts.

O~~~~~~O

"So where did you find this coffin, exactly?" My Father asked, eyeing the coffin.

"Er, well," I started, "I, sorta, floated back to shore on it after it sank the boat. Weird," I chuckled nervously, "right?"

He gave me some sort-a look, "Um, yes, rather strange." His gaze fell back to the coffin.

"Are we going to open it?" Tuffnut asked, excited. "Umm, sir," he added. Nice save.

"I honestly don't know. . ." my Father replied. For once he wasn't entirely sure what to do. "Well, how about we hold a meeting. We'll let the tribe decide." He said, and walked off happy with his choice. The rest of the Training group stayed huddled around the peculiar coffin.

"You don't think they would actually open it, do you?" Fishlegs asked, getting the question a lot of us (with the exception of Tuff) were thinking.

"N, No," I stuttered at first, "Of course not! They surely, _surely, _aren't that _stupid,_ right?" I almost asked, looking for someone to back me up. No one did.

O~~~~~~O

"Right! So everyone agrees that we open the coffin?" My dad pronounced loudly. Everyone answered back with shouts of 'yes's' and 'of course!' Were they kidding me?

"Hey, wait a sec!" I interrupted the cheering. "You've got to be kidding, right? I mean, the coffin clearly states 'Do Not Open'. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to open a coffin that says 'Do Not Open', right?" I asked, trying to find reason. I was answered with shouts of 'no, open it!' and 'Oh, don't be such a worry-wort!'. Right, I forgot about the stubbornness issues.

"I honestly agree with Hiccup," an Elder piped up. No other than my Mother's father, also known as my grandfather. I smiled warmly at him. "Don't get me wrong, I would like to see what's really in the strange object, but," he paused, "this is Grimbeard the Ghastly's coffin, what do you think may happen if we open it?"

My Father thought about this, stroking his beard. A smile spread across his face. "Aww, we're Vikings! It's an occupational hazard! I say we open the coffin and get on with our lives!" This was followed by cheers from the other Vikings.

My grandfather walked over to me, "Sorry, Hiccup my boy, I tried."

I sighed, "It's ok."

"NOW!" My Father bellowed, he had been hanging around Gobber too much. "Let's open it!" Spitelout, Snotlout's father, and Gobber hesitantly walked over to the coffin, and each looked at each other.

"Umm, you go ahead and open it," Spitelout said, backing away a bit.

"No, No! Be me guest!" Gobber said, pushing Spitelout closer.

"No, that's ok, you do it."

"No, you" Gobber said back.

"No, you"

"_No_, you"

"No, YOU"

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

"Oh, both of you, shut-up! I'll do it," my Dad said, stepping in. Finally, knowing Spitelout and Gobber that could've gone on for days!

My Father, walked over to the rotted coffin, and slowly grasped the top. He pulled up, waiting for the wood to give way. A big CRACK! signaled the coffin had opened. Everyone gasped, and leaned forward trying to see inside.

First, a bunch of water and seaweed poured out. Everyone took a sigh of relief, but a little too soon. Following the flood of water, one hand reached up and grabbed the side of the coffin; followed by a hook.

Oh, well this wasn't good.

** A/N: Duh, duh duh! A bit of a cliff hanger. I have to apologize, I will not be able to update for a week. I will be on vacation, but I promise that I will write a chapter or two (maybe three, no one knows. . .) while I'm gone, so you guys get a nice long read when I update again. Again, I apologize. Remember: Read and Review! Your guys reviews will decide the fate of the sequel. . .which I'm sadly already planning. Thanks to the people that already reviewed and such!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm baaaaack! ****Hope you guys like the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Like a told you before, NO I DON'T OWN HTTYD! *sigh***

_**Chapter 4**_

_**The Hook-Handed Man**_

The hook pierced right through the wood, I flinched at the horrendous sound. The scraggly, boney fingers clasped tighter around the side, and the body began to pull itself up.

People gasped in horror at the sight, I'm pretty sure I saw Fishlegs faint. A middle-aged man reared his head out of the coffin, and spat up some salt water. His skin looked like paper that had been scrunched up for years, his eyes blood-shot. It was rather ghastly-looking.

"It's the zombie of Grimbeard the Ghastly!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Oh, come on, really-," I tried to calm the crowd down, but was drowned out by shouts of others.

People were arguing what to do, some said to run for their lives. Others were readying their weapons, preparing for a fight with the living dead. I rolled my eyes. I could barely hear myself think with all the noise! I question sometimes whether I'm the only sane one in this whole tribe.

"Oh good gods, I'm in a tribe with a bunch of 4 year olds!" I muttered to myself. I stood on a table, and tried to get everyone's attention. "Eh hem, um, everybody, can you calm down? Please? Everyone CALM DOWN!" I shouted, after not even getting acknowledged the first try. Again, it didn't work. My grandfather came up and patted me on the shoulder.

"Let me handle this, Hiccup." He straightened himself, and coughed into his hand. He opened his mouth, "_**WOULD EVERYBODY SHUT-UP AND SIT DOWN!**_" Surprisingly, everybody shut-up and sit down. My mouth gaped in surprise.

"You're good," I said, and he smiled.

"Go ahead, Hiccup."

After muttering a thank-you, I spoke to the scared and confused Vikings. "Right, now that I've got your attention, I'd like to clearly state that that is NOT Grimbeard the Ghastly!" 'Ohhs. . .' of understanding followed the statement; my eyes once again rolled to the ceiling. "There's no way in Odin's name that he would survive that long! It's been nearly one-hundred years since his passing, his body is probably decomposed by now!" I got more nods of understanding.

"Wait one sec then," My Father cut in, "then who is this-," he looked at the man's missing left hand, "hook handed man?" That's the question that got me. I eyed the man curiously. He had jet-black hair, pale paper skin, a rather long nose. He was practically a bone, absolutely no meat on him. All he had was a bit of muscle in his arms, other than that nothing. He didn't have a large beard like most Vikings, just a goatee and a slender mustache. If he didn't have so many veins popping out, he would've been a good looking man.

He caught my gaze. Something suspicious grew in his eye, but his warm smile over powered it. He coughed up some more sea-water, "Yes, I'm sorry to give you a scare like that, really."

"Hey it talks!" Tuffnut exclaimed. Once again I find myself looking at the ceiling.

"Of course he talks, idiot!" Ruffnut said, following up with a good thwack in the head. Maybe she should stop that, he already doesn't have enough brain cells.

The vein-y man coughed once again. He stood up in the coffin, and casually slithered out. He acted as though this was normal for him, being accused of being a corpse. "Yes, I can talk. And I am very much alive, might I add." He said, resting his hook on his chest. His laughing eyes darted around wildly, looking at everyone's reactions. "I, am Alvin. A poor, yet honest Viking farmer from an island not too far from here. You," he said, walking over to my dad, "are the chief, I presume?"

"Yes, Stoick the Vast at your service."

"Stoick the Vast!" Alvin quickly put a fist on his chest and bowed. "I am honored!" My father did the same to Alvin. Alvin then spotted me. "So this! This has to be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" He walked over and shook my hand. Very hard.

"Uhh, huh, yeah." I laughed nervously. "That's me," my voice went down to a bit of a squeak. I never liked attention. He released my hand and stepped back to examine me. His hook on his chin, he circled me, muttering.

He stopped back in front of me. With a booming voice he said, "Better known as the dragon tamer!" he looked at me once more. "Hmm, no offense boy but I expected a little more than, this." He gestured his hook at me.

I sighed. "You just, kinda, gestured to all of me."

"Ahh, yes my boy! But we all know what makes a real hero!" He tapped his hook lightly on his head. I smiled back at him. He leaned closer and whispered, "And you seem to be the only one in this tribe with 'em." I chuckled lightly, and he smiled brightly.

"Yes, Alvin," my father cut in, "If I may ask, how did you get in that coffin, anyway?" My father eyed him, wondering if trust was an option.

"That, my friend, is a long tale. I suppose I should tell you; if I didn't that would be quite suspicious of me, no?" Another smile. Everyone watched Alvin with intensity and excitement. He had caught there attention. Ha, good for him.

"Now, where to start. I suppose with how I got this," he held up his hook. "I was simply just doing my job. Planting the crops and preparing for the harvest; when I struck something in the ground. I dug it up, and low and behold it was this very coffin," he pointed to the coffin. Everyone was absolutely focused, waiting for the rest of the story to continue. "Uhh, yes. Like you I was curious about the coffin. Did it really hold the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, was the Dragon-Stone I had heard so much about real? I couldn't help myself. I opened the coffin, finding a mere two things in it. Disappointed, I reached in to grasp the two things, I should've known better." He caught my attention, what two things? Why should he have known better? "I should of guessed, honestly. The coffin was booby-trapped. Right as I reached my hand in the top came down with the fury of shark jaws, cutting of my precious hand."

I looked at him with pity and sympathy, glancing at my own fake limb. My father apologized for my long-dead great grandfather, "I'm sorry, Alvin. You know Grimbeard, he's a trickster," he said, apologetically looking at Alvin.

"It's fine, Stoick. You didn't take my hand. Anyway, I knew he wouldn't of booby-trapped it if something useless was in there. So I dismantled the trap, and retrieved the objects the coffin with-held."

"What was in the coffin?" Gobber interrupted.

"I'll show you when I'm done explaining. Now, the objects I found were _very_ important. I knew the right thing to do was show my tribe, so I dragged the coffin and the objects all the way to the great hall. I told this same story to my tribe and chief. When I finished, I expected a good-job and pat on the back. I got the total opposite. My tribe didn't believe a word I said, said I was just making up lies and teasing the tale of Grimbeard the Ghastly! I would never do such a thing! But they didn't believe me. They shoved me into that coffin and set sail. They threw me over board, laughing rudely the whole time. Luckily, just 18 hours after they did that, I ran into your ship. So, here I am now." He finished. I looked at him with sympathy, poor man was rejected by his own tribe. Like I was before I defeated the Red-Death. I knew a bit of how he felt.

"I'm so sorry, Alvin." My father said once again.

"It's alright, Stoick. But to show you my tale is true, I have the objects I found in the coffin." With those words, every man and women in the room straightened up, trying to see. There were curious glares, smiles of excitement. Alvin reached in his shirt, and pulled out two slips of paper. Wait, paper?

"This, my new friends," he held up the papers for everyone to see, "is a map. The other, a riddle. Both will help lead us to the treasure."

My eyes widened in disbelief. Could we really, find the treasure? I found myself smiling at the thought.

"Wait a moment," my grandfather cut in, "Why are you telling us this? You have the riddle, and even a map! Why don't you go find the treasure for yourself?"

"That would be disgraceful! And if I am correct, _you_ are some of the direct descendants to Grimbeard the Ghastly. And this riddle clearly states that not any person can find the treasure. . ." He held up the riddle almost mockingly to my grandfather.

"Well then read the cursed thing!" My grandfather demanded. A smile crept on Alvin's face.

Alvin coughed, then read the ancient writing.

"Dare you brave the watery Grave?

The Death Head's prick of fire and sleep?

Only the stone can tell my Heir

For my heir's beast shall sniff it there

And he shall tell me underground,

Am I lost of am I found?"

My mouth was gaping. What stone? It couldn't mean. . .

"Stoick," Gobber popped in, "by stone, do you think it means," he paused, "the Dragon-Stone?"

My father looked baffled for a moment, trying to process the information. He scowled, "Of course not! The Stone's just an old wives tale! It must mean jewels, if you fine the jewels you are the heir." Gobber nodded in agreement.

"So as you see," Alvin cut in, "only the heir to Grimbeard can find the treasure. And only his beast can sniff it out. By beast, I'm guessing it means dragon. Your tribe is one of the only tribes that is actually at peace with the dragons. Dragons don't like me, at all. I don't know why, other than the fact they just can't trust us yet. You him here," he walked over and patted my back, "and he gained there trust. So what do you say, we find the treasure together?" He then walked over to my Father. At first, my Father looked confused. He struggled to make a decision. "Think about it, Stoick. Tons of gold, you'll be a hero! Can you picture it?" Alvin's eyes were gleaming; my Father began to smile.

"Of course we'll help you!" There were cheers and slaps on the back. Me on the other hand, I wasn't too sure.

Alvin's smile reached his ears, "Great! First things first, what do you have to say about the riddle?" Cheers slowly came to a stop. A concentrated look had been plastered on everyone's face. My Father's especially. Even I was having a hard time. Death's head. . .wait.

"Dad! Do you think by Death's Head, it means the Isle of Skullions? After all, death's head is a skull," I suggested.

My father thought about it, then smiled. "Good job, Hiccup! That's gotta be it!"

"So, then we go to the Isle of Skullions!" Alvin said. Everyone (even myself) laughed at the thought.

"If I know Grimbeard the treasure will be there for sure! Too bad it's suicide to even place a foot on that island. . ."

"What do you mean?" Alvin asked, confused. My Dad sighed.

"Let's see, who can-ah! Fishlegs! You know a lot about Dragons, mind explaining why the Isle of Skullions is so deadly?" My Father asked. Fishlegs hesitated, and nervously shook his head. He stepped forward and spoke in a whisper.

"U-Uh, well y-you see, A-Alvin, Skullions inhabit the island, you know. That's kinda how it got its name. . ."

"Yes, makes sense. So what's the problem; a Skullion is just another dragon, correct?" Alvin asked.

"W-well, yes, sir. But you see, Skullions are far from trainable. Very far. They are actually a very rare, flightless species of dragon. Huh, they can't even see or hear," Fishlegs explained, gaining a bit more confidence.

"It can't fly, see, or hear. Where's the problem?" Alvin interrupted.

Fishlegs chuckled nervously. "Uhh, well their smelling-it's unbelievable. Can instantly tell when a human or prey is near, even if it's miles away. And you see, huh, it actually eats humans on a regular basis: when it can, of course. They have on extra-long super-sharp claw that can grow up to nearly 3 feet long. They use this claw to cut the Achilles tendon, disabling it's prey's ability to walk. It then, uh," he dropped to a whisper, "eats your insides out."

Alvin looked horrified. "Yes, I see the problem." His face shifted. A confident look began to gleam in his eyes, and he smiled almost slyly. "Yes! But, we're Vikings! It's an occupational hazard!" My Father smiled at this. "We're all clever enough to outsmart some dragons, right? Plus we'll have your dragons on our side! Who's with me?"

Cheers erupted at Alvin's powerful words of encouragement. My Father slapped Alvin on the back, "I'm with you Alvin! Hooligans! We leave for our quest in two days! Prepare!" and with that, he dismissed the Vikings.

"Dad! Wait, that's insane! Do you know how many people could die?"

"Don't worry Hiccup! We got our dragons, and Alvin probably has some tricks up his sleeve, right?"

"Of course!" Alvin ensured.

"Right! Don't worry Hiccup, you got Toothless! You'll be fine!" He brushed off any worries, and walked away.

"But this isn't just about me. . ." I muttered to myself.

"They've all gone mad," Astrid walked up beside me. Followed by the rest of the Dragon Training group.

"You don't need to tell me twice," I said grimly. I frown itched at the corner of my lips, my eyes drooping down. "He's gonna get himself killed. . ."

"Don't worry, cuz," Snotlout came up, slapping a hand on my back, "Your dad knows what he's doing. He is the chief!" He gave me a reassuring smile. I faked one for him.

"Hey Snot," Dogsbreath came up and Snotlout away, "Why don't we, uhh, go train your Monsterous Nightmare, Fireworm, you know. See how well she can sniff out metal," He said.

"Umm, I don't know. I kinda wanted-," Snotlout protested, pointing to the rest of the group.

"Awww, come on buddy. You wanna find the treasure don't you?"

"Well, I guess. . ."

"Then come on!" Dogsbreath ended the conversation. He dragged Snotlout away; Snotlout sheepishly waved bye. I grimaced.

"Don't worry, Hiccup." Astrid pecked my cheek. "Just relax. Your father and Alvin can come up with something," she said. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess. Come on, let's go get Toothless and Sharp," I suggested. We walked out of the Hall to meet our dragons.

**A/N: Sorry, not too much excitement in this chapter. Read and Review, please!**

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**Look! I made Toothless! He's watching you. . .Sort of. I don't know, he looks sleep deprived or something. . . Well that didn't work as planned.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! I would reply to your reviews, although most of them are anonymous. Therefore, I can't. Sigh. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Planning & Practicing**_

"Hey, Buddy," I said, patting Toothless's head. Astrid scratched the top of her Nadder's head. Both dragons were now purring, I couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile. I heaved a sigh. Astrid gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hiccup, listen. My parents are expecting me to meet them in just a few minutes. Go flying with Toothless," Toothless perked up at the idea, "and just forget about Dogsbreath, and the trip to the Isle of Skullions. K?" she smiled.

I smiled meekly. "K."

She pecked my cheek again, and ran off to meet her parents. She glanced back, and waved. I pushed a smile, and waved back. Her Nadder followed closely behind her. Once she was out of sight, my face fell.

Why, on earth, would they go to the Isle of Skullions? After that 'harmless' trip to the dragon's nest, where they all almost died! I don't have another leg to loose! I remembered my Father's face at the mention of the treasure; and all I could see was the greed in his eyes. Greed. Greed was the reason they were going to that cursed island. Oh gods. . .

Toothless whined. Startled out of my thoughts, I looked down at him. He nudged my hand. I sighed, and petted the top of his head. "Come on, bud. Wanna go flying?" He gave me the familiar gummy-smile back, pulling a smile out of me. I strapped into the saddle, right when Toothless heard the 'click!' of the harness, he was off.

The cool, crisp air was refreshing. It was one of the rare sunny days on Berk. Perfect flying weather. The thrill of flying never got old. No matter my mood, I always smile when flying. You easily forget your problems, and you get lost in thought. The only bad part was: when you landed, you remember.

Toothless glided swiftly down to the gorge, where I first gave him a fish. It was kinda like our place, the only other person that knew about was Astrid. Other than that, just us. Astrid sometimes met us here with her Nadder, Sharp, or we would just laze around all day.

I slid off Toothless, and he immediately bounded over to the lake. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the water. He waited for a few moments; watching the still waters. Suddenly his head shot under the water, disturbing the peaceful scene. The dragon's head was out of the water as quickly as it had shot under; he looked back at me. In his mouth, was a big fish. He smiled triumphantly, and trotted over. He dropped the fish at my feet. He sat back on his haunches, smiling his gummy smile.

I chuckled, the memory of the first time he gave me fish popping in my mind. "No thanks, bud. I'm good." He cocked his head, confused at my refusing. I smiled crookedly at him. He shrugged his shoulders, and enjoyed the fish himself.

I sat myself down with a heavy sigh. Toothless looked at me, then proceeded to prance over. He sat around me, offering his scaly-hide as a back rest. I smiled at him, and laid back. I'm used to sitting in silence: usually. Especially considering me and Toothless couldn't actually _talk_ to each other. But today, too much had gone on. I was almost killed, rode to shore on a coffin, and now we're going on a treasure hunt on a deadly island for Odin's sake! Just the thought was making me anxious. I guess I was more flustered than anything: and sitting in silence didn't help. All it did was cause me to re-cap every event. I had to break the so-called peaceful silence. I didn't care if Toothless could answer or not.

I coughed, "Uh, sooooooooo. . ." I began. Toothless looked at me curiously. "Uh, how do _you _think I did with sword-fighting?" I asked. I smiled sheepishly. The dragon looked taken back by question, then baffled, and then his eyes widened realizing what I just asked. He quickly caught himself, and shook his head as if to shake himself back into his thoughts. He then gave a forced smile to me, (well, as much of a smile he could muster,) and I swear if a dragon could laugh nervously; he just did.

I chuckled. "Let me guess: good at dodging, sucked at swinging?" He nodded, almost shamefully. I laughed again. "Aw, oh well. I just need practice. And muscle. Maybe some coordination would help a bit," I stood up, and started babbling. I only swung once, was it that bad? Besides, that was my first time ever sword-fighting! I wasn't that bad, at least I couldn't have been, right?

"Maybe you need a new sword." A familiar yet foreign voice startled me out of my thoughts. I whipped around, meeting the strange gaze of Alvin. "Or possibly the sword just isn't your weapon." He was casually leaning against a rock, arms folded.

"Alvin! I, uhhh. . ." I wanted to explain the story, but was stopped. Toothless had tensed up, he was watching Alvin intensely. My brow furrowed, what was wrong with him? "Toothless," I whispered.

"Aw! So this is the legendary dragon! A mighty Night Fury!" He stepped toward Toothless, outstretching his hand as if to pet him. Toothless growled. "Uh, huh," Alvin snapped his hand back, laughing nervously.

"Toothless!" I scolded.

"Oh, it's fine! Just doesn't like strangers, is all!" He smiled gently.

"I'm so sorry, Alvin, I don't what's wrong with him," I explained. I limped over to the hissing Night Fury. I scratched the top of his head, trying to calm him down. "Toothless, stop bud. It's alright." He growled. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Calm down," I whispered, trying my best to soothe him.

"It's fine, lad. Now, what were you saying about sword-fighting?" He raised his eye-brow. I laughed lightly. I could feel myself blushing, ringing my fingers together.

"Uh, huh huh, I. . ."

"Say no more, you obviously feel uncomfortable about the topic." I smiled, relieved that I didn't have to explain how useless I was when it came to fighting. I frowned slightly. Alvin looked at me sympathetically, sensing my shame. "Uh, Hiccup, if I interrupted you I apologize. I was exploring the island is all, and I heard you talking. Sorry if I startled you," He apologized. I pushed a smile.

"It's fine Alvin. I understand." An awkward silence followed. I didn't know what to say to him, I barely knew him. Plus I was stilled concerned with my dragon's behavior. I gave in to a quick glance at Toothless. He had tensed up more, as if ready to pounce. He caught my gaze, and I gave him a questioning look.

"Aw, I know!" I jumped, startled by Alvin's sudden outburst. "To make it up to you, I'll teach you how to swordfight! What do you think?" I thought about the idea. Sure I barely knew him, but he was a nice guy. I found myself warming up to Alvin.

I smiled, "Sure, Alvin. I'd like that." Toothless growled. I turned my attention to him, but Alvin didn't seem to even notice.

"Great! What about. . .this evening! The earlier the better; just meet me here. Sound good?" I eagerly nodded. "Perfect, just perfect. . ." his smile was warm and inviting. But his eyes. . . I couldn't put my finger on it.

Toothless interrupted my thought. He hissed, and bolted between me and Alvin. "Toothless! Stop, what's wrong with you?" I said, upset with his behavior.

"Oh, it's fine. I should probably be going anyway. See you soon, Hiccup." He turned and left the gorge. I waved bye. Once he was gone, my gaze drifted to my still hissing dragon.

"Hey, stop bud. It's fine, everything is fine!" I did my best to calm him down. I started to scratch his head, he stopped hissing but still stayed tensed-up. "Hey, calm down!" I sighed. What was wrong with him? I stopped patting his head, I knew who I could see about this. "Come on bud, we're going back to the village."

O~~~~~~O

I knocked on the door to my grandfather's house. The door swung open to reveal an old, wrinkly short man.

"Hi, grandfather."

"Ah, hello Hiccup. Is something wrong, son?"

"Uh, can I ask you a question?" I asked, a bit of a blush forming on my face.

"Of course, what's the harm?" The old man bellowed, gesturing for Toothless and I to step in. He quietly shut the door behind him, stepping towards me with a grin. "Now, what would you like to ask?"

"Um," I started, "I-I was wondering, if there was anybody the dragons aren't particularly fond of? You know? Even when Vikings and dragons weren't at peace?"

He looked a bit confused at first, his brow narrowing in thought. He opened his mouth, then shut it. He sighed, and tried again. "Well, young Hiccup, I can only think about one group of people that would make a dragon wary." I nodded, signing him to continue. "Outcasts. You remember them? We actually refer to them as pirates. . ."

Outcasts. I clearly remember them. Ruthless people actually _banned_ from their village for being cold, heartless, and some were even accused of being crazy. I mean mentally crazy. Most of these people teamed together to form a whole new clan, so tough and merciless they can't even be considered Vikings anymore. They sail the seas, taking out their revenge on anything unfortunate enough to cross their path.

"I remember them, but aren't all Vikings also referred to as pirates?" I asked.

"Well, yes. To people who aren't Vikings. Us, however, are actually ashamed of these people, enough to call them a whole different name and, well, treat them as absolute outcasts."

"Makes sense," I muttered, almost to myself, "But why would dragons be afraid of them?"

"Well Hiccup boy, that's just how mean they were. They have no knowledge of anything but killing dragons, some can't even speak right. It's a sad thing, in my opinion. The dragons just stopped raiding them all together. That made things worse for us. With no dragons raiding them, Outcasts destroyed countless numbers of villages and clans. Thank Odin and Thor Berk wasn't good enough for them. . ." I would've been insulted at them insulting my home like that, but I was thankful. I've only heard stories, but from what my grandfather just said I agreed with the dragons. Let's avoid them at all costs. It made sense they decided to stop raiding them. Then it dawned on me.

"Grandpa do you think Alvin could be an Outcast?"

His brows once again narrowed in thought, before he quietly said, "Well, who said he wasn't?" A mocking grin crossed his face.

I nodded to the old man, "Thanks, Grandfather." He nodded back at me, and smiled. He stood up and opened the door for us.

My Grandfather was right, who said he wasn't? Toothless didn't like him, almost seemed frightened. What dragon would be scared of a human unless it was an Outcast? I'll be keeping watch on Alvin now. I'll decide if he's an Outcast or not this evening.

O~~~~~~O

I found myself walking through the woods just as the sun began its trip down. I was going to meet Alvin at the gorge. I had left Toothless at home, well insisted he stayed home. (That was a fight you would not have enjoyed to watch.) Alvin said he would teach me sword-fighting, but that wasn't the only reason I was meeting him now. I was going to get some things sorted out.

I entered the gorge to find Alvin already waiting patiently. He smiled and waved, and I did the same back. I walked over to me, a sword in hand. "Well, Hiccup, where do we start? Why don't you show me what you can do." He tossed the sword to me.

I fumbled a bit, but widened by shoulders with determination. I took some deep breaths, and concentrated. I was going to try the same move I did on the ship. I raised the sword, and moved my legs and arms in complicated movements, but with my prosthetic, I quickly met the ground. The sword flew from my grasp, and I looked up at Alvin smiling nervously. He walked to the weapon, and fingered the blade gingerly.

He opened his mouth, and I expected something along the lines of 'well, you may need some coordination' or 'why don't you go home, I don't think I can do much' but instead I received, "I certainly do see potential."

I blinked, surprised. "Pardon?"

"You have the stance, and you moved swiftly and with legit, you just lost your balance. I think you could be a great sword fighter."

My mouth was gaping, "Really?"

"Mhm. Just some practice. What would you like to work on?" he asked, eyes gleaming.

"Um, how about the swinging?" I asked sheepishly. He simply nodded back, and raised his sword.

"Now Hiccup, swinging takes concentration, you always . . ." He trailed off, I wasn't listening anyways. I was trying to plan a way in confronting him about the Outcasts. I just couldn't flat out ask him if he was an Outcast. Outcasts hate Vikings, it wouldn't end well. Maybe I could just ask him what clan he was from. "You got that Hiccup?" Alvin jostled me out of my thought.

"Hm? Oh! Uh, yes, why don't you give an example, though?" I asked, trying to hide that fact I wasn't listening. He smiled, and straightened himself.

He quickly yet swiftly did a pattern of complicated movements and swings, explaining each one along the way. It looked like no effort at all, almost like dancing. I stared in awe, Alvin was quite the swords-men. He finished his example with a quick lunge, and the sword inches from my chest.

"Wow," I breathed.

Still with the sword pointed at me he said, "Uh-huh. And you can do the same too, if you practice."

I nodded. Gaining confidence, I decided it was time to ask. "Hey Alvin, out of curiosity, what clan did you-," I began but was cut off with a shriek that ended in a threatening roar. I knew it anywhere.

It was Toothless. He had followed me. And walked in. With Alvin pointing his sword at my chest. This wasn't going to end well.

Toothless barred his teeth, launching himself of the ledge towards Alvin. Knowing exactly what he intended to do, I put myself between the two. Toothless's eyes widened, and he crash-landed to avoid hitting me. Snarling, he shot back up and lunged. I ran as best I could to him, holding him back by the neck.

"Toothless! It's ok! He was just showing me an example!" I explained, pulling him back. He couldn't fight Alvin without dragging me into it. He restrained, but not before he shot a warning ball of fire at Alvin.

"Toothless!" I whined. Alvin jumped around quickly, trying to distinguish the fire by patting it out. He quickly ran to the lake and began to splash water on himself. The fire finally died down, and we both took a sigh of relief. I didn't dare let go of Toothless.

"Alvin! I'm so sorry! I don't know-," I apologized.

"It's fine, he had good reason. You never know these days. But, I'm afraid today's lesson will be cut short due to my burnt skin." I flinched and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'll see you later, Hiccup. Good-night." He smiled, and exited the gorge.

My attention turned to the Night Fury. "Toothless! I told you to stay home! I was just about to ask him about his clan, until _you_ popped in and set him on fire!" The dragons gaze drifted down in shame, and he whimpered. I sighed. I hated it when he did that. "It's ok, buddy. Just listen to me from now on, ok?" I scratched him behind the ear. He purred and lifted his head.

The sun just began to hide behind the horizon. I looked at my dragon. "Come on, let's go home." Finally, the day was over. I just hoped tomorrow wouldn't be as eventful.

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long update! I've been busy and I can't get motivated for some reason. Sorry, this chapter was BORING! I'm afraid the next may be, too. But do not fear! The chapter after that should be a near-death experience! Those are always fun, right?**

**Disclaimer: *Bangs head on wall***


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello, All! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter ****Hope you enjoy this one! It's slow (AGAIN! It's killing me but sadly there has to be some slow chapters) But do not fret! Soon all the Vikings will be fighting for their life! Fun fun fun! **

**Disclaimer: You know what, yes I own HTTYD. That's why I'm writing this instead of working on the sequel. **

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Bathing Toothless and Treasure Hunting**_

Dragon Training was cancelled because of the trip. Lucky me, that means I get to work in the forge. Yay.

"Hiccup, quit that sighing and finish sharpening those swords! We're gonna need 'em for the trip," Gobber complained. I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"Sorry, Gobber."

Gobber looked at me, confused, almost sympathetic. "What's wrong, boy? You're usually a bit more perky than you are today," he asked.

I skimmed the top of my mind for a second, looking for the right lie. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." The perfect excuse.

"Well, alright. Start gettin' some more sleep, ye' hear? I don't like grumpy Hiccup."

I smiled a bit, "Sure, Gobber." I picked up the heavy weaponry and started sharpening the dull blade. Orange sparks showered down from the friction between the metal and the stone, slowly dying out beneath me. So focused on my job, I nearly dropped the sword on my foot when two men busted through the door.

"Hello Hiccup, Gobber!" It was my father, of course. Jolly as ever.

" 'Ello, Stoick." Gobber greeted. I merely waved, letting myself take a quick glance up from my work. My head quickly shot back up, surprised to see Alvin behind him. "What can I do for ye' two?"

"Nothing, Gobber. Alvin came up with a great idea that could help us in the Isle of Skullions. Alvin, mind explaining?"

"Of course, Stoick. Now I'm not sure if this is a great plan, but I figured that maybe it would help. Skullions strongest sense is smell, correct? Well I thought maybe, just maybe, if we clean ourselves enough, our human smell maybe masked," Alvin explained.

"We thought that everyone should know to clean themselves up tonight, just for precautions for tomorrow," My father finished.

Gobber and I both looked at each other, then nodded. "Well, thank ye' Stoick. We 'ave to get back to work now, take care."

Alvin and my Father both nodded, waved bye, and left. Gobber and I both looked at each other again. "You don't think it'll work, do 'ye boy?"

"Not in a million years," I answered back, dryly.

Gobber smiled at me, "Don't worry, Hiccup! We're Vikings! We can handle this." I forced a smile back.

"Thanks, Gobber." We both continued our work in a thick silence the rest of the day. Toothless would not like what I had to do.

O~~~~~~O

It was just past noon when I was allowed to leave the forge. I quickly walked home, preparing for the battle between my dragon and I that would erupt in a mere hour. Toothless bounded up to me, as happy as ever. I scratched him behind his ear, muttering a 'Hi, bud," before gathering some supplies that would be needed. I stuffed them all in the old basket I used to use to bring Toothless fish, grabbing the saddle and harness on the way out.

Toothless met me outside the door, sniffing the basket curiously. His attention was quickly turned away when I saddled him up, and slipped the harness on. We were off quickly, heading to the gorge. We were going to meet Astrid there, and she was going to help me in war. At least that's what I'm going to call it.

We were there in minutes, Astrid running up to us with a big smile on her face.

"So, what do you need me for?" she asked. I sighed, and pulled the basket off my back so we could both see what was in it. I looked at Toothless, now distracted with trying to catch a fish in the lake, and opened the basket. Astrid peered inside. She was a first confused, looking back at me for an explanation. I glanced at Toothless, and her eyes widened.

"Hiccup, you can't! You'll get killed!"

"He wouldn't kill me, maul me, maybe. But we have to do this," I tried to reason. She looked at me, concerned.

"Fine. But if either of us die, I blame you."

"I expected that." I looked back at Toothless, who was still luckily, studying the water. I pointed at him, and made a movement with my hands. Astrid nodded, and we both crept towards the dragon.

We stood behind him, our hands out in front of us. I held up 3 of my fingers, mouthing the words as I slowly counted down. Reaching one, we both tried our best to push the black dragon in the lake. Boy did that fail.

Toothless quickly turned around, alarmed. With the flick of his tail, he sent both me and Astrid flying backwards. We took a harsh landing on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Well that failed," I simply stated. Astrid nodded, grinning.

"Told you it wouldn't work." I sighed, and stood up to face my dragon. He was glowering at me, both mad and confused.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't want to do it. But I have to if you want to go with us tomorrow; you have to take a bath!" I said. His eyes widened at the word 'bath', and before I knew it he was as far from the lake as possible. I looked at him with pleading eyes, he quickly shook his head denying the idea.

"Please, buddy? I'll give you salmon," I offered. Another shake of the head. "I'll give you trout!" Another shake. "I'll give you all the cod you want!" He considered this for a moment, before quickly shaking his head, again. I sighed, defeated.

"You know his mind's made up when he denies cod," Astrid said, coming to stand by me.

I sighed again, "How are we going to do this?" I asked, mainly to myself. We had to get him in that lake to wash him, well so Astrid could wash him. I couldn't swim as you know, and-wait. Crap. I have an idea. "I know something that may work," I said to Astrid, glumly. She looked at me with concern again.

"From the sound of it, none of us is going to like it," she said. I nodded. I started to back up towards the lake. "Hiccup, what are you doing?"

"Astrid, you remember how I can't swim?" Toothless looked at me now, scared.

"Yeah. . ." she said, her voice shaking. Toothless glared daggers, as if to say, '_you wouldn't dare'. _Good. He knows exactly what I was doing. I walked over to Astrid, and whispered the plan into her ear. She looked back at me, horrified. I started to back up towards the lake again.

"Don't jump in after me," I reminded her. I looked at Toothless, whose face was full of concern yet anger at the same time. "Toothless," I said, and gave him a two-finger salute. I let myself fall back into the deep water.

I had heard Astrid scream my name, I knew she didn't like the idea. The water was cool and calm; unlike the ocean. I probably would've been able to float, somewhat, but I knew that if this was going to work I couldn't try to keep myself afloat. I didn't use any effort at all. Just slowly drifted down to the bottom, being weighed down by a metal leg. It had been about 10 seconds. I almost started to doubt my plan, and began to panic. Then I saw a black mass jump in the water. Toothless quickly swam over to me, snagging his teeth on my vest. He swam upward until both of our heads were out of the water.

I cough and sputtered for a bit, taking deep breaths. Luckily, Astrid stuck to the plan. She had already jumped in the water and swam to us, and began to brush Toothless's scales. I was still snagged on Toothless's teeth, he began to growl at me. I risked a look at his eyes. Yep. I was right. He was peeved. . .

"Toothless, please forgive me! I had to! It was either that or go to the Isle of Skullions _without you_! I honestly think I had a greater chance of dying there then what I did just now. . . please understand, buddy?" He stopped growling, but kept a soft glare. "Still want that cod?" I asked, sheepishly. He grunted, and dunked my head under the water. I once again came back up coughing out water. He purred. "I deserved that. I'm _really _sorry buddy. I promise never to abuse our relationship again," I said, looking at the angry dragon with pleading eyes. His face softened, he began to croon. I smiled widely. "Thanks buddy!" I said, reaching my hand back in an uncomfortable way to scratch him behind the ear. He purred, but once I pulled my hand back his eyes glimmered slyly.

I was dunked under the water 5 times before Astrid was finally done cleaning Toothless.

Astrid swam back to land, Toothless dragging me the rest of the way. He gently placed me on the grass, then leapt out of the water. He shook the water off of him, taking a look at his now shining scales. A disgusted look appeared on his face.

Astrid socked me in the arm. "_That_ was for nearly getting yourself killed and using Toothless's feelings!" I began to protest, but was cut off when Astrid's lips locked with mine. I began to blush; I'm pretty sure I saw Toothless smirk. She pulled away. "_That,"_ she said, a little more softer, "was for actually getting Toothless bathed. I have to admit, that was a cruel, heartless, brilliant plan." Toothless scoffed.

The blush quickly came back, and I smiled crookedly. Astrid laughed. "Yeah, well, I had to get him bathed. . ." I explained. She lightly laughed again. "Umm, well, there was something else I wanted to try with Toothless. . ." Toothless looked like he had just been shot with an arrow, Astrid narrowed her eyes. "No! No, don't worry. Toothless may actually like this, and no lives are at stake." They both sighed in relief. I walked over to the basket, and pulled out some old necklaces and other jewelry of my mother's. Both cocked their heads, and dumb-founded look finding each face. I laughed.

O~~~~~~O

"Ok, Toothless," I said, bending down eye-to-eye with the dragon, "I've buried the jewelry in various parts of the woods," I gestured to the tall pines now overlooking the three of us, "understand?" He nodded. "Good. I want to see if you can find it. Think you can bud?" I asked, smiling. He broadened his shoulders, and nodded. Always the show off. "Good. I knew you could. Well, have at it!" The proud dragon smiled toothless-ly, and bounded off to the forest; Astrid and I both on his trail.

We followed the dragon for about an hour, endlessly turning this way and that through-out the forest. Finally, giving up, we rested on the ground. Exhausted from chasing the Night Fury, said creature was breathing heavily beside us, having gotten too worked up in the hunt. I looked at our findings, disappointed.

We found one of the necklaces, a sock, some old coins, and a dragon scale. Don't even ask why there was a sock in the middle of the forest. Toothless saw me looking at the items, he whimpered shamefully. My head shot up and gave the dragon a reassuring look. He actually sniffled.

"Aw, don't worry buddy! It's fine, you found one! You're just off your game, is all," I said, smiling at the dragon. He sniffled again, but he looked happy. His eyes didn't show any sign of sadness. I looked at him curiously. He kept sniffling. "Hey, what's wrong Toothless?" I asked, patting the dragon's scales. He looked at me, but began to, began to, open his mouth? His breathing became ragged, his mouth opening wider. Oh no.

"Get down!" I pushed Astrid down with my arms, right before a ball of blue flame narrowly missed our heads. We slowly sat back up, looking at each other.

"Did he just sneeze?" Astrid asked. I shrugged my shoulders. I limped to the dragon, patting his snout.

"Are you ok, Toothless? Do you feel sick?" I looked at the dragon's eyes, searching for a sign of maybe a cold or even tiredness. Toothless began to grunt something, before his eyes grew wide and he shoved me to the ground with his paw. He shot another rocket of fire the opposite direction. He looked back at me, sadly. Gently, he shaking-ly lifted me off the ground. I scratched the poor creature behind the ear. "Astrid, I think he's sick."

"Sick? Can dragons get sick?" she asked, of course I shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea if dragons could catch colds or not. "How do you think he got it?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Probably from being in the water too much. We forced him to have a bath today, and yesterday he saved my sorry butt by pushing it back to shore in the freezing water. I made the poor thing catch a cold," I said sadly. Toothless crooned, pressing against my hand. "It explains why he couldn't smell much metal." Astrid sighed, coming beside me to pet the sick Night Fury.

"Aww, is the kitty sick?"

"Dogsbreath. . ." another voice said behind me. I turned around slowly. To my dismay, the insult had come from Dogsbreath, with a nervous Snotlout standing by his side. I grimaced as Astrid began to slowly move her hand to the axe she always kept strapped to her back. I grabbed her hand, shaking my head when she glared at me.

"Woah! Watch it, sweetheart, I don't wanna fight," Dogsbreath taunted, holding his hands up in surrender, "Just want to know what you're doing out here," he said, smirking and raising an eye-brow.

"None of your business," I retorted. Snotlout looked hurt. I looked at him apologetically.

"Well, ok then." Dogsbreath began to walk away, before casually turning around, the smirk growing larger. "Ohh, just thought I'd let you know, Fireworm found these," he tossed the rest of my Mother's jewelry at us, "Looks like we had the same idea. Too bad the ever-powerful Night Fury has caught a cold." He smiled wickedly. Toothless growled.

"Shut-up, Dogsbreath," Astrid barked. I looked at her, scared on what she would do.

"Aww, calm down sweetheart!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Hm. Fine. Why do you hang out with this fish-bone anyway? Why don't you come with us, Fireworm will show you how to look for treasure," Dogsbreath mused. I glared at him, Astrid hooked her arm with mine. Snotlout elbowed him warningly.

"Because he's way better than hanging out with people like you! And no, I do not want to see Fireworm hunt for treasure. I like Night Furies better," Astrid came back. Toothless and I both smiled at her. She winked.

Dogsbreath narrowed his eyes, raged at her refusal. "Whatever. Hang with the looser and sick dragon. See if I care. Come on, Snotlout," he snarled.

Snotlout looked back and forth between us. He rushed over to Astrid and I. "I'm really sorry," he muttered. He quickly sprinted away, shouting "Dude, that wasn't cool!" at Dogsbreath. I started to turn my head towards Toothless, before a claw shoved both me and Astrid down. I heard the familiar snap of Toothless igniting his fire, before Dogsbreath yelped. Toothless's paw now off my head, I stood up to see Dogsbreath charging at us. I quickly ran in front of Astrid and Toothless, trying to block them.

"Ah ah ah! Now Toothless is sick, remember? He couldn't help it," I reasoned, knowing it was a lie. I knew what it sounded like when Toothless ignited his fire on purpose. Snotlout rushed up and pulled the snarling Dogsbreath back. Still enraged, Dogsbreath reluctantly turned around and stomped off. I looked back at Toothless, smirking. I bent down and patted him on the head. "Good dragon. _Very_ good dragon." I said. Astrid snickered.

O~~~~~~O

I slowly creaked the door to my home open, wondering if my Dad was home yet. I walked in, followed closely by Toothless, who flicked the door shut with his tail. We were greeted with a warm fire, and my Father smiling at us from the table.

"Hello son! How was your day?" He asked warm-heartedly.

I smiled, taking a seat beside him. "Fine, Dad. And, um, how was yours?"

"Just fine, just fine," he answered. We kinda sat awkwardly for a moment, we were never good when it came to small talk with each other. I opened my mouth, then shut it. He did the same shortly after me. We stared down at the table.

"Hey dad," I said.

"Yes, son?"

"I-I," I looked for the right words to say, "I don't think we can trust Alvin, Dad."

My Dad looked at me, alarmed. "What? Why do you say that? Did he try to hurt you?"

"What? No! No! It's just, I don't know. Toothless acts weird around him, and don't you find it a bit strange how friendly he is? I don't know, it's just, something isn't right." I looked at my Father.

"Well, son," he stumbled on the words, "I don't know why your dragon acts that way around him. Other than that I can't prove you're right. I'm sorry, son, that you feel that way. If he tried to hurt you or anyone, that's another story. But you can't just base it off suspicions. Understand?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"Good, now why don't you-," he started but I cut him off when I noticed Toothless repeating the same thing he did in the forest before.

"Duck!" I shouted, right as Toothless shot a ball of white and blue ribbon from his mouth. It struck the wall, immediately dying out on impact, leaving just ash behind. My Father raised his head, looking at me totally lost. "Toothless caught a cold. . ."

"But I didn't even-you know what. Never mind," he said. I sighed, slumping my shoulders. "You look tired, son. Go to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow. You've washed, right?" he asked. I nodded, I was going to count my little stunt as a bath. "Good. Get some rest." He shooed me away.

I trudged up the stairs, with the help of Toothless. I threw my vest off, practically ripping my prosthetic off my half-leg. I crashed down on the bed, sighing in relief. I was exhausted. Toothless rested his head on the bed, purring. I patted his snout. "Night, bud. Go to sleep. We may die tomorrow," the last four words came out as a mutter. He crooned, and lied himself down by the bed. I tried my best to sleep, especially considering how tired I was. I didn't get much.

**A/N: That actually turned out better than I thought **** hope you guys like it too! Sorry to make Hiccup go all evil-master mind, but it worked didn't it? This chapter is longer than the others, to make up for the long wait I made you go through for the last chapter. Oh, and another thing. Some of you guys favorite or alert this story, and I don't mean to be pushy but could you tell me why in a review? I want to know all of your likes and dislikes to help me with future stories, so as always reviews are appreciated! God bless!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers and anyone who's alert'd or favorite'd this story. Heck, thanks for just reading this far!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own HTTYD**

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Isle of Skullions**_

Fog had just begun to settle over the lands, hiding the sun's beams. The day was gloomy, about as dull as the color of the atmosphere: gray. The air was stuffy and cold. My hair was clumped together and wet due to the moist, my clothes were actually a bit damp. Perfect weather for going to a deadly island, right?

I heaved a sigh. The salty air was going to damage the harness and saddle. I slumped my shoulders, resting my chin on my arms. I looked over the rising of the waters glumly, watching the boat slowly stray up and down violently. Toothless lay not 5 feet away, sleeping. There wasn't much talk on the boat; Vikings aren't exactly morning people. We had already been sailing for a good 2 hours, having gotten up before the sun even rose. It didn't matter, we lived on Berk. We usually didn't see the sun.

I was surprised when I felt a kiss on my cheek. I blushed, and looked up to see Astrid smirking. She folded her arms on the side of the ship right next to mine.

"Morning, Dragon Boy."

"Hi, Astrid," I said, a smile slowly creeping on my face.

"So, having fun staring at water?" she asked lightly.

I chuckled, "Surprisingly, yes I am." She laughed.

"Mind if we stare at the water with you guys?" We both turned our heads to see Ruff, Tuff, and Fishlegs smiling at us.

"Sure, join the party," I said. They all practically pranced over, resting their arms over the side of the ship. I was surprised to not see Snotlout, but then remembered he was busy being Dogsbreath's puppet at the moment. The small-talk had awoken Toothless, who now had his chin resting on the side of the ship with our arms. He looked as gloomy as the day.

"Hey, what's wrong with black-scales over here? He looks depressed," Tuffnut commented.

Toothless glared a bit. "He has a cold, he probably doesn't feel well," I answered.

"Can dragons get colds?" Ruffnut asked.

"Apparently, yes. Yes they can," I said, starting to get a little agitated. "I probably shoulda left him a home." Toothless gave me a look. I sighed. He was right. He would've won that fight.

"I'll have to make note of that," I heard Fishlegs mutter to himself. Tuffnut rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well-," I started, but got distracted when Toothless started to breathe heavily. "Oh, man," I muttered to myself. "HIT THE DECK!" Anyone near immediately dropped to their knees, covering their heads. Blue flame shot up into the sky like a flare, eventually sputtering out. Sparks sprinkled on the deck, and the confused faces of Tuff, Ruff, and Fishlegs. I shrugged. "That kinda happens when he sneezes." Fishlegs looked mystified, the twins just shook their heads.

Toothless whined, I patted the top of his head trying to comfort him. The confused faces soon turned to sympathetic ones, and all came up to pet the poor creature. "Aw, it's kinda: _sad!_" Ruffnut commented, in disbelief more than rudely. I just nodded. I felt a pang of guilt, it was mainly my fault he was sick. Sighing, I sat down by my dragon, still petting the smooth sleek scales. Everyone followed my movements, sitting beside one another to eventually form a circle.

We all sat in silence for who knows how long, letting our minds drift with the ship. I continued trying to comfort Toothless, others just twiddled their thumbs or stared in the distance. I honestly have to say it was quite eerie. Finally, after what felt like hours, a hoarse voice yelled the sighting of land.

We were at the island.

My eyes immediately widened, panic rising over. I really didn't want to be here. Astrid saw this; she put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at her. Knowing she couldn't do anything else, she went off to fetch her dragon. Toothless stood up, and did his best to give me the familiar gummy smile. I smiled back, scratching him on top of his head. I began to walk off the boat, but Alvin's voice stopped anyone who had the same idea.

"Hello, all! I just want to wish luck to all of you, I admire all of your bravery and courage. Good luck, and stay safe!" He bellowed. Vikings beamed proudly at the praise, and continued to exit the ship. I found my Father about to step off when I stopped him.

"Umm, Dad, is Alvin even coming with us?" I asked, perplexed on why Alvin made no effort towards the exit.

"No, he's going to watch the ships. With all the planning last night he informed me he doesn't think he cleaned well enough. Afraid of attracting the beasts to all of us, he offered to watch the ships. Now get off the boat, son. Who knows how long our search will be," he explained, pushing my back towards the exit with a meaty hand. I took a glance back at Alvin with narrowed eyes. He was a coward, coming up with such a silly excuse. It was childish.

I took a hesitant step on the sand. I took a look at my surroundings. A dull, trashed beach with logs of fallen trees everywhere. The beach was cut off by wood, tall dark pines that went back who knows how far. A low humming sound caught my attention, I turned my head trying to pick up what it was. Letting my eyes widen in the slightest, I realized it was sleeping Skullions. They must be hibernating, or trying to sleep out the storm to come. At least we had a little luck on our side.

Toothless nudged my leg. I looked at him, and he pointed towards the pines with his head. I frowned. "Come on bud, let's just walk around until somebody finds the blasted treasure," I said quietly. We walked to the woods, the ground slowly becoming harder the closer we got.

The woods were quiet. Not a bird chirped. Not a creature scurried, only the creepy rustling of leaves as the wind rushed by. It was dark, too. As you can expect, any source of light we had out of the woods was blocked by the tall trees. You would've guessed it was close to night-time instead of 9 in the morning.

I looked at my dragon, he looked back at me emotionless. I sighed, and patted him on top of the head. We began walking when Toothless perked up. He lifted his head, sniffing the air. I looked at him curiously, when he smiled and began to tug on my shirt. "What, what?" I mumbled, getting harder tugs on my shirt from the dragon. "Ok, I'll follow you." He jumped 2 feet in the air before pacing off. I kept up with him the best I could, getting deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally, he stopped and motioned to the ground.

"Did you find something, bud?" He nodded excitedly. I smiled, and deciding to give it a try began to dig with my hands (with the help of an excited dragon of course). I scraped something smooth with my hands. I dug a little deeper to find a giant shell. I picked it up and studied it, must've belonged to some creature. I looked at Toothless, who was actually disappointed. I'm guessing he thought it was the treasure; I thought I heard him sigh. I stood up, proudly holding the giant shell. "Don't be sad, bud! I actually think this is kinda cool!" I said, trying to cheer him up. And it wasn't a lie. It was cool, and the thought this belonged to some creature not even discovered made it amazing. I thought it was better than some treasure. Turning the shell this way and that, trying to examine it with wondering eyes perked the dragon up a bit.

He smiled toothless-ly at me, and I chuckled lightly back. His little victory didn't last long, though. We heard a long, low whistle to the west of us. The signal somebody found something. A whip of lightening soon followed, followed quickly by a crack of thunder. I flinched at the horrendous sound of the two at war, before rain poured from the skies above. Praying to Odin that this didn't wake the Skullions, Toothless and I silently walked to the sound of the whistle.

O~~~~~~O

We arrived to a crowd of Vikings, all circled around and chatting excitedly about something. I pushed my way through, to see Dogsbreath standing proudly by a chest. Snotlout was beside him, his hand on Fireworm, smiling prideful-ly, though not as much as Dogsbreath. I grimaced at this, out of all the people who could've found it, they had to. I was going to get some crap about this later.

"Hey, Hiccup. What's that?" Astrid said behind me, looking at the shell.

"Um, Toothless found a shell!" I said, presenting it out in front of me. "I, uh, thought it was kinda cool," I looked up at her, then all of the sudden found the ground incredibly interesting, "and well, Toothless seemed to like it, so. . ."

She laughed. "It's ok, Hiccup. I think it's sort of pretty."

My eyes widened, "You _do?_" She nodded. I slight smile tugged at my lips, before my Dad came to stand beside Snotlout and hushed the crowd. All's attention was immediately focused on the chief, the two boys, and the chest.

"I would like to congratulate Snotlout, for his dragon finding the chest! And Dogsbreath, for assisting him!" My Dad slapped a hand on Snotlout's back, earning a smile in return. The crowd cheered, once again to be hushed by the chief. "Well, would you boys like to help me open it?" He asked. Both nodded excitedly. Gobber came up with a sword, and handed it to Snotlout. He smiled broadly, before using the sword to force the old box open. Dogsbreath and my Father stood beside him, helping him pry it open with their fingers. Snotlout shoved the blade between the lid to the chest and the chest itself, moving it up and down to force it open.

There was a horrible cracking noise, before Snotlout smiled in satisfaction. Slowly, all three raised the lid and tossed it to the side. Their eyes marveled at the site before them, as did everyone else's. There was gold piled to the top, with jewels and necklaces thrown in for good measure. The rain made it sparkle, differently than it would from the sun. My father smiled, from greed. It was a frightening sight. I still thought the shell was cooler. The only thing that amazed me was the abundance of treasure.

"Wow," I heard Astrid breathe beside me.

"Uh-huh," I absentmindedly agreed. I was actually studying the shell. Then I thought about it. Something was wrong. This was too easy. It was just simply buried in the ground, no watery grave. A missing piece. This, this wasn't it . . .

I tore my eyes from the shell, looking at the treasure. My eyes narrowed in confusion. This wasn't like Grimbeard. Then I noticed the dragons. They were all itching their noses, some looked horrified. I looked at Toothless, who wasn't as bad, but still itching at his nose. I braced myself, thinking he was about to sneeze. But then why would all the other dragons be doing it? He caught my gaze, and I noticed how terrified he looked. He threw his head toward the chest. Then I smelt something. It was absolutely rancid, an old musty aroma. I quickly looked at the chest, and to my horror a green gas trickled at the bottom. You could only noticed it if you looked for it. My breathing got ragged, and my eyes widened in realization.

"CLOSE THE CHEST!" I screamed, throwing myself over the top trying to keep as much of the gas in as possible, ditching the shell.

"Hiccup! What's wrong with you son?" My Father asked, confused and angry towards my actions.

"The smell! The smell! We-w-we have to stop the smell!" I stuttered.

"I just thought that was Gobber. . ."

"I thought it was just me too!" Gobber replied.

I rolled my eyes, now getting angry at their stupidity. "DAD! It's coming from the chest! Th-th-the smell is coming from the chest! It's, it's!"

"Spit it out, boy!"

"IT'S TRAPPED!" I screamed. As if to add an affect, lightening whipped at the sky, illuminating the faces of confused Vikings. Thunder cracked for emphasis.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

I was absolutely furious now. What in Odin's name does he mean what do you mean! "Th-the SKULLIONS! Dad, please!" I begged, "Don't you understand!" I was near hysterics now.

His eyes widened in horror.

Thunder rolled off the trees once again. It was answered by a fierce, inhuman roar; not too far away. The Skullions. . .

"They're awake. . ."

**A/N: I'm soooooo sorry for the short chapter! Please forgive me! School's starting back up so I won't be able to update as much. But don't worry, I will be updating every chance I get. You guys just gotta keep reviewing, please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hiya! I'm back, with the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: *pinches nose***

_**Chapter 8**_

_**Run!**_

Thunder rolled off the trees, answered by another roar full of anger, and death. Before I knew it every person was scrambling by each other, trying to get back to the ships. You could hear the Skullions already sprinting toward the sweet scent of human flesh. The sound of their heavy bounds had the whole war-party in an uproar. I stood there, frozen. I scanned the crowd for a familiar face, but to my disappointment everyone was running too fast for me to even catch a glimpse at their features.

Another roar of anger from the Skullions as their food ran from them sent me back to my thoughts, and I took off running. Well, as best I could anyway. I watched as everyone rushed past me, and my pitiful attempts to catch up with them. Despite the fact everybody seemed to be running at the speed of lightening, I still saw two Vikings running back to the ships _with the chest_. Those idiots! They could get themselves or someone else killed! It completely baffled me, it drove me to the point of anger. I slowed my sprinting, feeling my face flare with the frustration of the whole situation.

I got distracted. Bad mistake. I soon found myself face-planted on the ground. I had tripped over a dead tree. I gasped in surprise, and rolled over onto my back. Another bad mistake. I was face-to-face with a Skullion.

It was a gruesome thing. Pure black. I mean _pure_ black. Even its eyes had no colors. Pitch black orbs, that blended in with their rough-looking skin. It's snout was flat, with big nostrils that flared with anger. It had no ears. It barred it's teeth, each sharp and big enough to be a dagger. Foam fell from its mouth as it breathed heavily. We sat there, still. Not daring to move, for what seemed like hours.

My breathing quickened, as I began to panic. It's head shot down towards me, and a gasped in surprise and fear. It started sniffing me, curiously. I tensed up as his snout ran up and down my body, snorting and sniffing. I closed my eyes, pressing my lips hard together in a line. It stopped at the harness I wore. Particularly at the metal ring. I opened my eyes, to see the black creature sniffing it. To my horror, it smiled maliciously. Then it raised its paw, and I saw it. The one claw. The one claw nearly 4 feet long. Sharp enough that if I just gently touched it, it would draw blood on intact. It brought it forward, and I braced myself, ready it to strike.

But I was wrong. Lightening glowed, illuminating the claw. Instead it drove the claw into the metal ring. The beast started to drag me toward itself; I dug my nails into the ground, knowing exactly what it was doing. It was just mocking me. Like a cat would with a mouse. Play with its food before it brought a brutal death. I had seen Toothless do the same thing to smaller creatures that just so happen to cross his path when he was hungry. I never liked to watch that side of my dragon. Knowing this, I clawed at the ground harder, trying to keep a distance between me and the Skullion.

Just inches away from it, me struggling and flailing against the Skullion's hold on the darned harness, the beast stopped dragging me towards it. It slowly lowered its head, stopping just an inch from my face. It's eyes locked with mine, and no matter how bad I wanted to pull away, I couldn't break the hypnotic spell. It's eyes almost glowered, despite the fact they had no color, no emotion to them. I gripped the soil, breathing harshly. Everything had disappeared. Just me and the Skullion. After moments upon endless moments having to suffer, it once again smiled slyly, showing off all of its teeth. It snorted, and reared up on its hind legs, bringing me half a foot off the ground. It extended the front leg not holding onto the harness. Like a cat's would, it's claws shot out on command. Each not nearly as long as the one holding the harness, but when you took a closer look, each was just as sharp. Just one sweep, and I'd be in pieces. I saw the muscles in the arm tense, ready to be brought down.

I lowered my head, ready for the claws.

The black-beast roared, declaring it's won the game. I tightly closed my eyes. Then I heard another roar, this one full of fury. My eyes shot open, knowing this roar wasn't made by a Skullion.

Something ran into my side, pulling me away from the now angered beast. The leather to the strap was stretched to its limit, and it snapped. Whatever creature ran into my side and I both rolled feet away from the snarling Skullion. We finally stopped. Shaking with fear, I hesitantly looked up to see the Skullion crouched, with the metal ring and half of the letter strap still on its 4 foot claw. Just as my breathing began to get rasp again, I noticed a shadow was casted over me. That's when I noticed the growling. Afraid of another Skullion, I hesitantly looked up. I took a big sigh of relief, and smiled. It was Toothless, of course. His eyes were slits, glaring at the Skullion. They were challenging each other.

Toothless stood over me, snarling and growling. The Skullion snarled and growled back, as if they were communicating. Toothless sounded like two mountains being rubbed together, the Skullion sounded like finger nails grinding against a wood floor. I engrossed the ground in fear, not liking either noise. I've only seen Toothless like this once, with Fireworm in the kill ring. It wasn't pleasant, it was full on terrifying. It showed the lie of Toothless's name. It showed the true colors of his species, Night Fury. Offspring of lightening and death itself. Even knowing this creature was on my side wasn't a comfort.

Toothless finally looked down at me, his eyes softening. He looked concerned and confused. He didn't understand it was him that was frightening. His eyes instantly turned back into angered slits when the Skullion roared. We both looked at the beast. It was tensing up, ready to pounce. Toothless crouched, ready to fight back. Both roared a warning at the other, before the Skullion leaped at us. Before Toothless could even think of fighting back, someone leaped on the snout of the Skullion. It was my Dad.

They both rolled to the side. Both leaped back up in fighting position. I shouted to my Dad, but he didn't hear me. The circled each other. The Skullion finally leaped at my Father, who barely managed to get out of the way.

I slid out from under Toothless, running towards my dad and the beast. "Dad! DAD! STOP! Forget about it, get back to the ships!" I screamed. I was stopped in my tracks by Toothless, who snagged his teeth on my shirt and pulled me away from the fight. I tried to shove his head off, but to no avail. Dad was having none of it either.

"Stop, Hiccup! Stay where you are! The thing will just follow you, now _you_ get back to the ships! I have to hold it off!" he shouted. I shook my head.

"Dad, NO! Stop, it-it-it'll kill you! DAD!" I yelled, a lump rising in my throat.

"Son, DO AS I SAY!" He commanded.

"Dad," I whimpered pathetically, my voice hoarse. Thunder erupted through the skies.

My Dad dodged another leap from the Skullion. He glared at me. "Night Fury!" My dad shouted, looking at Toothless. Toothless solemnly nodded, not happy with the decision either. He then glared at me, and gestured to the saddle.

"But, but Toothless!" I argued. He lunged at me and growled. I was now shaking uncontrollably. My dragon was threatening me, and my Dad, my Dad. . .

"Toothless, please don't make me!" I begged. The dragon looked sympathetic for all but a moment, but he shook his head quickly. His eyes were glaring again, and he growled; it was almost a roar. I stepped back, shaking my head. The Skullion noticed our little quarrel, and shot a look at us. He shoved my Father to the side, and headed for us.

Toothless's eyes widened, before he snarled at me. He bit down with his gums on my arm, and swung me towards his saddle. With no choice, I mounted. I gripped my hands on his neck, with the harness being broken I had nothing to keep my on. I shoved my prosthetic into the pedal, and Toothless launched in the air.

We were high above the trees in the matter of seconds. The sky was dark, and lightening flashed around us, answered by a roll of thunder. I flinched at each sound, gripping Toothless's neck. In a little over a minute, we were flying above the beach. Toothless slowed, and I gasped in shock.

Skullions. Everywhere. All hissing and roaring with anger. Simultaneously, they all hushed, and sniffed the air. Each black orb shot back at us, snarling. Toothless sped up, but couldn't go full speed knowing I didn't have anything holding me on. They all gathered just 20 feet below us, howling and roaring.

I looked at their eyes. All of the sudden, one by one, the black slowly started to form a line in the middle of the eye, showing off a white part that was hidden. My mouth gaped in shock and fear. They were truly angry. Then one managed to jump. It reached its bony forearm to us, extending the claw. Toothless tried to dodge the Skullion, but didn't react quick enough. It gashed his back leg.

Toothless howled in pain, and swerved downward. I lost my hold on his neck, and plummeted towards the Skullions, all with their claws up, ready to skewer me.

"Toothless!" I screamed. He looked at me, eyes wide in fear. He shot downward, grabbing me in his claws. I felt him pull my arm out of socket, and I hissed in pain. He gripped my torso, letting my arms fall back. The problem was he kept falling afterward. No one could control the pedal.

I launched myself toward the pedal, doing my best grab it with my arm being out of socket. I hooked my left arm in the straps that secured the saddle to Toothless, and hoisted myself upward. I slammed my hand on the petal, and we shot up. Toothless blasted towards the ships, my hand now controlling the pedal.

Toothless nearly lost his grip on me a couple times, but finally we fell to the deck of a ship. Toothless landed on his side, to avoid crushing me. I heaved my arm out of the strap, and let myself fall onto my back, gasping for air. Toothless did the same, exhausted.

I looked back at my dragon, and smiled. I scratched him behind the ear, earning a croon in return. I let my hand fall to the deck, and closed my eyes.

A crowd had gathered around us. Murmurs and chatter concerning us. I was brought to my feet harshly when someone grabbed my shoulders, and hoisted me up. They spun me around to look at them, and I saw who it was. Astrid. She smashed her lips on mine, and I was at first surprised. I honestly expected a couple hits to the head. But I gave in, and let her. She hit me when she finally pulled away. There's the Astrid I know!

"Why in Odin's name do you keep trying to KILL yourself! Are you trying to give me a heart-attack! I was positive you were both going to fall, Hiccup! I SWEAR TO THE GODS!" She yelled. I smiled, and hugged her.

"Hey Astrid?" I said.

"What!"

"I'm sorry."

She calmed down. She pulled away from me, bewildered. Then she forced a serious look on her face, and replied, "Yeah, well, you should be!" She hugged me again, and I smiled.

"Wait!" I pulled her off me, and ran to the side of the boat. She followed close behind. "My Dad! H-he's still on the island!" I shouted, scanning the shores for him. He launched out of the trees, the Skullion close on his tail. My eyes widened, he was scratched everywhere and looking weak. My face fell. He was just setting himself up. "Some, someone has to help him!" I shouted, getting hysterical. A Nightmare flew above my head, towards my Father and the Skullions.

He quickly dodged out of the way of his pursuer, making two Skullions collide with each other. My mouth gaped in awe as he effortlessly defended off beast after beast, putting them against one another. Finally, after heart-wrenching minutes of watching my own Father fight for his life, the Nightmare gracefully lifted him off the ground by his arm. They flew back towards the ship, where my Dad dropped to the ground, followed by the Nightmare who landed more gracefully. I smiled widely.

"Dad!" I shouted, running towards him. I stopped in front of him, but he pulled me into a hug. I was caught off guard, but hugged back. I backed away, and he smiled down on me. "How bad did they hurt you?" I questioned, looking at the soon-to-be scars on his arms. I frowned.

"I'm fine son. Looks like your Night Fury needs a bit of assistance," he said, pointing to Toothless. I looked back confused, but then looked at Toothless. His leg was bleeding heavily, being clotted down by a rag a medicine woman was holding to it. His face grimaced in pain, and I ran over to him. I scolded myself for forgetting about his injuries.

"Toothless!" I said, kneeling down by his head. "Are you ok buddy? I'm so sorry! I can't believe I forgot you got cut!" The last sentence was more to myself. I gingerly petted his head, trying to calm him. He looked to be in a lot of pain. I sighed heavily. He crooned despite his injuries, and closed his eyes. My Dad came up behind me, and patted me on the back.

"He'll be fine son. Dragons heal fast," he said, trying to comfort me. I smiled a bit. He walked off to get his injuries taken care of.

"Hiccup, let me see tha' arm." It was Gobber. I turned to him, holding out my arm with the dislocated shoulder. Of course, when I remembered it, it started hurting again. Gobber examined it, giving a 'tut-tut'. "Wait one sec, Hiccup," he said. I nodded, and he walked off. He came back with a cloth. He made a make-shift sling. I frowned. Great. Now I'm missing two limbs.

"Oh, cheer up, boy! At least you'll get this one back," he said with a wink. I half-smiled, he was right. At least I got this one back. He gently patted my shoulder with a smile, and walked off.

I sighed, and sat next to the now sleeping Toothless. I petted his head. His ears twitched, but other than that he didn't wake up. I smiled, finally able to relax. We had made it. Everything was all right. Just some injuries.

Little did I know of the even dire situation to come.

** A/N: Well that was fun! I really didn't know how to end it, so you guys get a little cliffie. Sorry. Anyway, review time! Please tell me what you think! Oh, and btw, one review per person per chapter (if that makes sense). Some anonymous reviews I can tell reviewed more than once, and I don't mean to be harsh but just one review per person for a chapter please! Sorry bout that, ANYWAY, hope you liked it! Ready, set, REVIEW! **

**God bless! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Aloha! I iz back! I'm so glad to hear you guys liked the last chapter, it was definitely my favorite to write. Anyways, thanks to all of my reviewers! It is so appreciated. Ok, I'm gonna quit talking now. . .**

**Disclaimer: I don't have anything funny or snappy to say. I've run out.**

_**Chapter 9**_

_**A Treacherous**_

I woke up with a jolt. I had fallen asleep, without realizing it. I groaned, slowly sitting up. I was still on the ship. It was still gloomy outside, and I couldn't see the sun to tell what time it was. I looked at my surroundings. Toothless lay dozing about a foot away, everyone just bustled around us as if it were normal to have a Night Fury and his rider sleeping on the ground.

"Morning," someone called, sweetly.

I looked behind me to see Astrid smirking. I chuckled nervously. "Sorry, how long was I out?"

"About an hour is all. Still a while's away from Berk." She sat down beside me. I heaved a sigh, scolding myself for falling asleep. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and decided to stand up. I wobbled, remembering I only had one arm and leg at the moment. Astrid helped me, after seeing I was still a bit shaky.

"Hiccup! Good to see you're up, son!" My Father strode over, clapping a hand on my back.

"Sorry I fell asleep," I mumbled.

"Perfectly fine, I know you didn't get any sleep last-night in the first place. I heard you shuffling back and forth. I bet that nap did you some good," he said, smiling. I smiled back, of course. "Well, I'll leave ye' be. Crew's expecting a victory speech. I'll see you later, son." With that, he walked off.

I simply waved bye, flinching a bit at the sting in my right arm. I heard an inhuman yawn behind me; I turned to see Toothless staring around sleepily. Fully awake finally, he chirped to me an Astrid. I chuckled, and walked over to him. I started scratching the top of his head.

"Feeling better, buddy? How's the leg?" I asked, glancing at his back leg. It was wrapped in cloth; the cloth stiff with dried blood. I grimaced. Toothless kicked it back and forth a little, and gave me a gummy smile. I forced a smile, murmuring a 'good'. He shifted, and continued to stand up. I was afraid his leg would give out, but he stood and walked just fine. He gave me a confused look at why I was so concerned.

"He's fine, Hiccup. Dragons heal fast, remember? That was like a paper cut to him," Astrid said, trying to calm me. We stood together, shoulder to shoulder. She softly smiled, blinking her aqua colored eyes, waiting for me to respond somehow.

I sighed. "You're right. He looks perfectly fine," I said. "It would be nice to know if he felt fine, though," I muttered darkly. Astrid raised her eyebrows in concern.

She put her arm on my shoulder. "Look, if it felt bad I think Toothless would be smart enough to stop walking and give it a chance to heal. But he looks ready to run a mile!" She said, laughing. I laughed, too. She was right. Toothless sat there, squirming back and forth, tongue hanging from his mouth. He looked like he did when I had woken up from the battle with the Green-Death.

Toothless walked over and nudged my leg. I petted the top of his head, holding back a chuckle. "You're right. As always," I said, turning to Astrid. She smiled broadly and pecked my cheek. She took her arm off my shoulders, and walked off to tend to her Nadder. I slowly let myself fall to the ground, only having one hand to support myself and one real leg. Toothless walked behind me, and as usual let me lay my back against his scaly-hide.

I continued scratching his head, and he began to purr. I sighed in contentment, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. They flashed open when a husky voice called over the crowd. Of course it was my Father, giving the speech he promised.

"Fellow Hooligans! I would like to congratulate everyone on a great success!" The crowd erupted into a wave of cheers. My Father laughed heartily, and held up a hand to silence the crowd. "Another congratulations to Snotlout and his Nightmare, for finding the treasure!" The crowd clapped with agreement, and my Father continued his speech. "It was rough. We all barely made it in the end. All I have to say is we should thank the Gods we didn't lose anyone. Not only that, but we even made it out with the prize!" My Father smiled ear to ear, gesturing at the treasure feet away. I scowled. That stupid treasure, a _pile of metal_ for Odin's sake, made me almost lose my Father. I vote we throw it into the sea. I stood up now, followed by Toothless, not letting my glare falter in the slightest bit. "A special thanks to Alvin, for not for him, we wouldn't even have this victory!" The crowd erupted. I scoffed. Yeah, and we all wouldn't of almost died, I would still have my arm, and Toothless's leg would be fine. Yup. Thanks Alvin. I know who you are and the coward you are.

Toothless nudged my hand, seeing my discomfort. I sighed, and petted the top of his head. "Well, Hooligans, I leave you with-," he was cut off. I saw a metal blade glisten as it was held to his throat.

Toothless roared in fear and rage. I spun around. A net had been casted over Toothless.

"Toothless!" I shouted, full of fear and panic. It had all happen so fast, I can barely recall it. I reached for him, but was pulled back with a muscular arm. A blade was pressed against my throat, hard enough to crush my wind pipe. I clawed at the arm holding me back, trying to breathe. That emitted a roar from Toothless. I glanced around me. Another Viking tribe had slipped on board. How, I don't know. I'm guessing they did it when all was cheering, and they blended in. I looked at the side of the boats to see ropes dangling on the side. Everyone had a knife to their throat, all with scared eyes. All but one.

Alvin stood in the middle of the chaos. He smiled. He slowly began to clap his hands, walking to my Father with a prideful face.

"Well, Stoick, dear fellow," he laughed maliciously, "I thought it'd be fun to end our little venture with a surprise. HOOLIGANS!" he shouted, turning to the rest of the tribe. "Meet the OUTCASTS!" Everyone's mouth gaped in surprise. I clenched my teeth, glaring daggers into Alvin. "Oh, and their leader," he now pointed to himself, "I. Alvin the Treacherous." My Father's eyes flickered to me. I met his gaze, his eyes full of apology. All I could do was sorrowful-ly stare at him back. I tried to speak, call out to anyone, but the blade was forced against my throat. I choked in pain, and I heard Toothless whine and growl at his captors. "Sorry to deceive you like this, but I made a promise to, uhh, a friend. And frankly you're not going to like it."

"I bet you're all wondering what happens now," Alvin continued, pacing back and forth, "Well. You see, one of my friends here has a barrel of wine. Oh, but not just any wine. _Black wine._" I felt my own eyes widen in shock. Black wine was a rare, expensive wine. And highly flammable. "Now, you see. My friend here is going to light it. Oh, but you who have to endure the flames shall ever be so lucky. I have something special for my dear friend Stoick." He stopped in front of my Father, eyeing him suspiciously. "You will be our dinner." The words struck me, I was entirely taken off guard. Cannibalism? They were actually going to eat. . .

"But that cannibalism! You would actually eat another human!" My father bellowed, choking when the blade was pushed farther into his neck.

Alvin chuckled. "We're Outcasts. We are true Vikings! The rest of you have gone soft, so we're going to show you how it's done. But first," He said, now peering over the crowd, "I know about the conflict of this, but who would be the true heir to Stoick the Vast?" I froze. I know what he meant by conflict. This was a test.

Determined, I shoved the blade just centimeters from my throat. Just long enough so I could call out, "I am the heir to Stoick the Vast!" The crowd turned to me, my Father's eyes full of pride. I smiled at him.

The man who was holding me gripped my good arm, swinging me in front of him. "_You_ are the heir to Stoick the Vast!" He burst into laughter. "But-but your so!" He said, pointing to me.

I started to protest, "But-but you just! You know what, I'm not even gonna say it."

The man now glowered at me, and another came up and they both grabbed my arms. I struggled against their tight grasp, the one holding my dislocated arm jerked it up. I cried out in pain, and immediately quit my struggle. They lifted me off the ground, my legs flailing. They set me down harshly in front of Alvin, never letting go of their death grip on my arms.

He towered over me. His eyes were full of sick pleasure. I stared him down, not daring to show him I was weak. We glowered at each other. He full-on reminded me of the Skullion. Playing with his prey before he brought a harsh death.

"You know, Hiccup," I scowled when he said my name, "I wasn't lying when I said I saw potential. Definitely not in your sword-fighting, but just in you. You can be a leader. It'd be a waste to have to kill you. . ." I eyed him suspiciously, yet horrified at the same time. He smiled slyly, showing his yellow-rotting teeth. "I'll make you a deal. Come back with us," he gestured to the Outcasts, "And be _our_ heir." People gasped. I saw my Father's eyes glaze over. My breathing got ragged, and I desperately looked at my Father, searching for guidance. He nodded his head. He wanted me to say yes, to spare my life. Tears welled up in my eyes. "You got brains, Hiccup," Alvin stated as a matter-of-factly, "That's what we need more of. Brains instead of brawn. I don't have any children Hiccup, I need an heir for my tribe. What do you say?" He leaned closer to me, barley a centimeter from my face. His eyes glistened. It was disgusting. "Come now, son," he whispered, so only I could hear, "Leave these people. They don't think you right to be heir, but I do. We need you Hiccup," he said. My breath caught as he gently grabbed my jaw. "I already think of you as a son. Please do it Hiccup," he coaxed. My eyes narrowed.

I spit on him.

"You've got a sick mind, Alvin! If you ever think I would be the heir to a tribe of Outcasts you're dead _wrong!_"

Alvin wiped my spit off his face, eyes as sharp as knives glaring at me. "WHY YOU LITTLE!" He lurched forward and grabbed my throat with his hook. I stumbled back, the Outcasts holding my arms let go. Alvin drove me back, slamming me against the mast. I scratched and tore at his wrist with my good hand, but he drove the point of the hook into my neck. I couldn't breathe. I panicked. He slowly eased off my neck, but still held it hard enough that if was difficult to breathe. I gasped for sweet air, digging my fingernails into Alvin's wrist. "You're a stubborn boy, you know that! And a stupid one!" he snarled, spit flying into my face. Toothless was roaring, I heard his claws screeching against the deck. Outcasts held him down as he whimpered and growled. I tried to glance at him, show him it would be ok. But Alvin now grasped my chin with his hand, forcing me to look at him. I glared in disgust and hatred.

"And you are a sick, disgusting, evil, OUTCAST!" I yelled outraged.

He clapped his hand on my mouth. At first his face was full of fury at my outburst. But then it softened, earning a bewildered look from me.

"I like you Hiccup. I really do. You're loyal, smart, and you're the Dragon Tamer! You can tame anything you want!" He was smiling. He was having fun. My stomach was lurching, my heart beating a thousand times a minute. I was absolutely terrified. I fought back, but the tears came to my eyes anyway. I didn't dare let them fall. He laughed.

And laughed. It was an evil cackle. He had gone mad, crazy. He finally halted his enjoyment, and his eyes slowly turned back to slits, I could almost see the malevolent look seep back into them. He took his hand off my mouth; I greedily sucked in the air that followed. He reached down into his pocket, smirking. Declaring he had won. Toothless all of the sudden began to panic, my Father had tears in his eyes begging to fall out. I spotted Astrid. She _was_ crying. They saw something I couldn't.

Ever so slowly, Alvin pulled a blade from his pocket.

My eyes broadened. It was as sharp as the Skullion's talon. I started breathing hoarsely, struggling against his grasp. He only pressed against my neck harder, gaining a bit of a whimper from me. I felt pathetic when I let such a whine out, but I couldn't help it. I bit my lip, not even thinking of letting out another wail, or even a word for that matter. I stared him down hard. He rose the knife to my cheek, Toothless let out another roar of fear and fury. He slightly, almost gently pressed it down on my skin. I felt warm liquid run down my face like a tear, but I wasn't crying. It was blood, and I knew it. But I wasn't going to admit it. I closed my eyes hard, turning my head to the side.

Alvin guffawed again. I lifted my head. If I couldn't do anything else, I was going to stare him down. He smiled as if this were a game. A child's game of tag, and he finally got me. He raised the blade. I turned my head, but my gaze never left his. I was ready for the blow.

"Too bad I have to kill you."

And then it happened. It was so fast, so quick. All I heard was a familiar screech, my eyes widened, and just like that the ship was in flames. Toothless had lit the barrel of black wine on fire. Upon hearing the screech, Alvin's grip on my neck lightened, and he dropped the blade to his side.

I quickly took the opportunity to look at Toothless. Right as I did that, Toothless pulled the net with his shoulder, making the men on his left side lose their balance and tumble. He did the same with the other side, only this time more violently. Instead of knocking the men over, Toothless's leg gave out and he rolled over. And over. And over, encasing himself in the net. He was rolling across the deck, knocking Outcast after Outcast over. The Hooligans took this opportunity to take a hold of their captors, and in just the matter of seconds a war had exploded on deck.

Knowing the time was right, I kicked Alvin off of me with my metal foot. He crashed to the ground, surprised I had been able to over-take him. I quickly ran to him, slamming my prosthetic down on his wrist. He yelled in pain, but I ignored it. His hand dropped the blade, and I quickly grabbed for it. He saw what I was doing, hooking his hook around my ankle. I fell to the ground. He crawled to the knife, but I practically jumped up and ran to it first. His hand was just an inch away. I kicked it out of his reach, hastily bending down and grabbing it.

Not looking back, I searched the deck for my dragon who was still caught in the net. Desperately, my eyes darted back and forth, my head turning in circles but not locating the dragon.

"Toothless!" I called. The flames were getting higher. I heard the wood screeching and screaming in pain. I heard a roar, but couldn't tell where it was from. I was frantic now. "TOOTHLESS!"

"Hiccup!" A familiar husk voice called.

I whipped around. Tears of relief collected in my eyes. "DAD!" I screamed, running toward him. I once found myself in a rare hug with him again, for the second time that day. I let some of the tears fall as my Father hugged tighter. I pulled from him, wiping my eyes.

"Dad, I can't find Toothless! He's trapped in the net still, and, and-,"

"Hiccup," he interrupted. I looked up at him full of hope. He smiled down at me gently, and pointed to the corner to the ship. I quickly looked that way, to see Toothless struggling in the net. I smiled crooked-ly, turning around to give my Dad another quick hug.

"Thanks, Dad," I said, and with that I ran off.

Toothless spotted me, and cooed. My knees slammed onto the deck, and I frantically began pulling the net off of his legs. I sawed at the ropes with the blade, but it was taking too much time.

"Hiccup!"

I twisted around to see Astrid running toward me. She was automatically at my side, hugging me. I hugged back, and pecked her forehead. I pulled her off of me, still desperate to get Toothless out of the net. She started to help, undoing as many knots as possible.

"Hiccup, we have to get off the ship! It's sinking, we only have so much time!" Astrid beseeched. "Everyone else is gone, Hiccup!"

I turned to see the deck nearly empty. Everyone had left on a dragon, or was being tugged away in a life-boat. I looked back at Toothless, and narrowed my eyes in determination. "I'm not leaving him here."

Astrid nodded, understanding. She ran to the other side of him, trying to find a way to untangle him. She glanced up at me, smiling. I smiled back. She lowered her head to look at her job, but it automatically shot back up.

"Hiccup!" She screeched. She was staring at something behind me. Toothless looked up and roared in fury.

I whipped around. Alvin was charging at me with his sword held high, screaming a war call. I narrowed my eyes again, this time in hatred. I sprinted to meet him in the middle of the deck, slamming into his stomach to force him to fall over. We both landed on the deck hard, me with a death grip on the blade I still held in my hand.

He cursed darkly at my name. He swung the butt of his sword up and hit me in the head. I clutched at my head, begging the head-ache to subdue. I growled at him, and hit the side of his face with the butt of the knife I held.

"You cursed little-!" he mumbled furiously. He hit my head again, but this time I fell to the side. Less than a second he was on top of me, pinning my arms down with his knees. The sword was at my throat, but I didn't show any sign of fear.

"And now," he breathed heavily, trying to gain his breath back "to finish where I started!" he declared. I felt the sword push down heavily on my throat, but not enough to cut it. I felt Alvin tense, ready to glide the sword across my neck. But instead he froze.

A horrendous creaking sound erupted, the final cries of the ship being burned to pieces. My eyes widened as my gaze drifted upward. The mast was falling, but it felt as if it were falling in slow motion. Instead of falling forward, like I would expect, it fell to the side.

The boat flipped over. And we were trapped under it.

**A/N: OH MY GOSH IT'S A CLIFFIE! Haha, I'm so mean to you guys. I apologize for leaving the story like this, but I thought it was a good place to stop. I actually had a really hard time starting this chapter, but I read it and it turned out better than I thought it would. I don't know, you guys are the judge! Tell me what you like and don't like in a review!**

**God Bless!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Ello' my lovely reviewers! You guys make me feel so durn special! Sorry to leave you hanging on the last chapter, but I promised myself I will not move from this spot until I have this chapter done! Unless I have to go to the bathroom, then you must wait ;)**

**Disclaimer: I owned HTTYD once. Then I woke up.**

_**Chapter 10**_

_**A Watery Grave**_

Water is not a cushion. It knocked the breath out of me when I was forced under it. The cold stung every inch of my body, it felt like hands were clawing and pulling me farther down. Determined, I shot back out of the water. The metal prosthetic still weighed me down, but I did my best to float.

I saw no sky. Just a wooden canopy over top of us, making it impossibly dark. My eyes adjusted to the black, and I took in my surroundings. Alvin was at one end of the ship, trying to hold it up and keep it from sinking all the way. Astrid was at the other end doing the same. Someone was missing.

"Astrid!" I screamed. Her eyes flew to me, panicked and scared. She was breathing heavily, and it took her a couple of tries to reply.

"H-Hiccup!" she paused, trying to catch her breath. "He-he's under the water!"

My eyes widened. I gave up trying to keep my head above the water. I was exhausted, being with only one leg and arm to tread the icy-waters. I slowly let myself sink, knowing what to do.

My eyes flashed opened. I did my best to ignore the urge to shut them; the salt in the water felt like tons of needles just poking at my eyes. I frantically turned this way and that, searching for the dragon. I nearly lost my breath from the panic when I couldn't see him anywhere. I resisted the impulse to shout his name, knowing that would do us no good anyway. My grip on the knife I still held tightened, and I nearly lost all hope.

Something red caught my eye.

I whipped my still-sinking body that way, full of hope. I nearly cried from relief when I saw Toothless's tail fin, and him still in the net. Gathering up my strength, I rapidly angled myself toward him. I straightened my body to make my descent faster, desperate to get him free. He finally saw me, and opened his mouth as if to call. I nearly slammed into his side, making us both sink faster. I grasped the ropes, now falling with him.

I sawed at them with the knife, determined as ever. My lungs wanted to burst. They were crying and screaming in pain, begging for sweet oxygen. My vision was becoming fuzzy, a black frame now outlined any images. It was when I heard the final snap of the last rope being cut, and I saw the net fall to the watery depths, that I closed my eyes and gave up.

Next thing I was aware of I was above the water, sputtering and coughing up salt-water. I breathed heavily, wolfing down any air that entered my mouth. I heard a coo below me, and I looked down to see myself draped over Toothless's neck once again. I smiled broadly, scratching the dragon behind his ear.

"Déjà vu', huh buddy?" I said, earning another coo in return. I breathed out a chuckle, laying my head against the warm flank begging for sleep. I was drained, I wished for nothing more than to nap and gain back some energy.

"Yes, sorry to ruin the moment, but we're still trapped under a boat, filthy-child!"

I raised my head, glaring at Alvin. I heard Toothless growl, and I felt him move toward Alvin. I petted him, trying to calm him down, although I really didn't care if Alvin lost that other hand. Toothless jerked his head up, forcing my hand to stop petting him, and never leaving his warning-stare off Alvin, swam over to Astrid.

She was pale-white, almost blue because of the freezing water. She appeared weak and tired, not like the Astrid I knew. My face fell, not liking the way she was looking. Toothless started to pull at her shirt, insisting she grab onto his neck or back.

"Toothless," she took a deep breath, "stop! We have to keep the boat up!" she complained, shoving his snout away from her. He growled, frustrated. He looked at me, then gestured with his head under that water like he wanted to show me something. I slowly looked towards Astrid, still baffled.

"Astrid, I," I paused, still confused, "I think he may want to show us something." She looked at me, then at the anxious dragon. Toothless crooned to her. Her face softened, and she reluctantly grabbed onto the other side of Toothless's neck.

Toothless was about to take off, when I stopped him. I looked back at Alvin, who was now blue and getting tired. I knew that if we left him he would die. But why did I care? He was going to kill me, let me die! But that was the point exactly. Was, was I going to stoop to Alvin's level, and be no different than he? I didn't kill Toothless or let him die when I first met him, despite how my tribe loathed him.

I narrowed my eyes, annoyed with the fact I couldn't kill anything or anybody.

"Come here Alvin. Grab onto Toothless," I commanded. Alvin looked at me, face twisted in shock.

Astrid stared at me, mouth gaping, words totally lost. Toothless's eyes broadened, but then slowly drifted to a glare and he growled a complaint to me. I stared back at him, hard. Not letting the firm glare falter in the slightest. His eyes widened again, and his mouth went slack in shock when he saw I was dead serious. Alvin started to move towards me, and that's when Astrid complained.

"NO! You _STAY AWAY!_" she hissed, then directed her glowering stare to me. "Hiccup! I swear on Odin's name, have you gone MAD! He tried to kill you, he was going to slit your gods forsaken throat! He is going nowhere near you, he deserves to drown!"

"Astrid, we're not stooping to his level or we'll be no better than him!" I protested.

"I DON'T CARE! Hiccup, if you think-!"

"ASTRID!" I interrupted. She automatically shut her mouth, shocked at how stern I was. I looked at her apologetically, regretting how I had yelled at her. But we had no time for that. I looked toward Alvin, and beckoned for him to come here. He slowly inched his way towards us, hands still holding up the ship to keep an air-pocket. Alvin never peeled his eyes off Astrid or I, but slowly grabbed onto Toothless's back. Toothless shot a quick look at me, snorting. I kept the firm look, but raised my eye brows at him, pressing my lips in a strong line. He snorted once more, rolling his eyes. Toothless straightened his shoulders, and with a determined gleam in his eyes shot under the water.

We were moving at such a speed I could barely even keep my eyes open. The ship loomed over us, racing to the bottom. It nearly crushed us. Toothless with a bolt of speed raced out from under the boat, just seconds before it sunk all the way, and we would've been goners. Never letting his speed slow, Toothless continued shooting through the water with a path of complicated twists and turns. Finally, I saw a candle-light beam of light.

It was coming through a hole in the rock just meters in front of us. The hole was barley large enough to fit Toothless and all of us through. Toothless swam through a narrow tunnel, and just when I thought I would black-out again we shot out of the water. All gasped for air, trying to relieve the sting in our throats. We were in an under-water cavern. It was absolutely huge, and breath-taking. It reminded me a lot of the gorge.

After catching his breath, Toothless swam to the side of the pool so we could climb on land. Astrid helped me up because of my arm, and I was followed closely by Toothless. He leapt out of the water, shaking any water still on his scales. Astrid and I were sitting on the ground, still trying to catch our breaths. Alvin was across from us, doing the same. Astrid still kept a hateful glare at him, ready to cut his head off if he tried anything. Toothless growled at him, promptly setting himself in front of me to separate Alvin and I. Alvin scoffed, and rolled his eyes.

"That _beast_ is awfully protective," he commented.

"Yeah, well he has every right to be," Astrid retorted.

"Both of you _hush_," I ordered, getting aggravated. The both automatically glared at me, and I glared right back. I looked at Astrid, and let my eyes slowly form an apologetic look to her. Her glare eased, and she gave me the same apologetic look back. I sighed, and looked around the giant cavern.

It was all rock, and it looked like it could lead on for days. The rock was a dull grey, rough and jagged along the edges. The only sign that life would dwell here was the pool of water, other than that it was too dark. I heaved another sigh.

"How do we get out?" I mumbled. Astrid then took a look around, too. She gave a similar sigh to me when she also saw no exit. Toothless then perked up, sniffing the air. I eyed him curiously, half expecting him to sneeze, but he didn't. Instead he stood up, his eyes lighting up. He looked at me, giving a gummy-smile, and bounded farther down into the cave.

"Well, your beast has finally abandoned you. What do you do now, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III?" Alvin mocked.

"Alvin, I said _hush!_ You're lucky I didn't let you drown. You _should_ be grateful!" I spat.

"HA! Trust me that was a giant surprise. I was ready to drown, but you just_ insisted_ I come with you, so I did. Cause trust me, right now there is nothing more I want to do than slit your throat and lick the blood off my knife!" he snarled.

"Touch him I'm afraid there will be a peeved Night Fury ready to rip you limb from limb, burn you, and dance on the ashes. So watch it _Outcast!"_ Astrid growled.

Alvin growled at her. He began to stand up, his one hand on his sword ready to duel. Luckily Toothless came running back, sprinting between Astrid and Alvin, separating the two. He growled a warning at the Outcast. Alvin backed off, releasing his sword and hooking it back on his belt. Toothless then looked at me, not moving himself from where he stood, and gestured with his head down the cave.

"What is it buddy?" I asked, walking towards the Night Fury. He kept looking between me and down the cavern, and eventually becoming annoyed started to tug on my shirt. I gave in, and we all three followed him down into the cave.

The path got narrower and narrower along the way. It also got dimmer. There was a point where I found it hard to see my hand in front of my face. The only thing lighting our way was Toothless's eyes, which luckily glowed in the dark. It was almost scary, though. Toothless's sleek black form was hidden in the shadows, you could only see a greenish light drifting from his eyes. I've never been scared of the dark: just what waits in the dark.

I clenched my hands into fists, ignoring the voices in my head telling me to go back. Toothless then stopped, nosing a section of rock. I looked at him, confused. He chirped to me. "What is it buddy?" I whispered, limping over to him. He kept nosing the door, making squawking sounds. I stared at him curiously. "What?" He sighed. He gently bit down on my wrist with his gums; I backed up a little frightened. He rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Trusting him, he guided my hand to the wall of rock. At least I thought it was rock. Toothless let go of my wrist; and my breath caught from shock.

It wasn't rock at all. It was wood. It was _a door._

I delicately glided my fingers up and down, not believing what I was feeling. I slowly felt my lips emerge into a crooked smile.

"What is it?" Astrid asked quietly behind me.

I chuckled a little. "It's a door."

"A what?" Astrid replied. Both Alvin and Astrid came beside me, and hesitantly touched the door. I heard both gasp, and all together we pulled away rock and dirt that had been covering it, so you could now clearly tell it was a door. At the sight, my eyes widened, no believing what I was seeing.

Written on the door, in a dark red, was this:

Do Not Open This Door

Unless you are the true Heir to Grimbeard the Ghastly

Death will follow those who are disobedient

And right under it, drawn in what was once blood, was a skull. Death's head.

I was trembling now. My eyes were bulging, my mouth had gone totally slack. If we had already found the treasure; what was this here?

Alvin kept his hand on the door. I watched his fingers slowly curl, and I looked at his face. A shadow of evil was playing on his features, his eyes were bulging with maliciousness and almost pride. He turned to me, that same smile of sick pleasure was back.

"Open the door."

I looked at him hard, yet confused at the same time. "No. We don't know what's behind it," I could feel my voice quiver, because I had a pretty good idea what was behind it.

"Oh, but you do," he advanced toward me, "it's the treasure. It's the treasure, and you know it, boy!"

I started hyperventilating, backing up against the door as he got closer. "But, but we already found the treasure! It, it's back with the rest of the Vikings, remember! I-I-," I started to stutter.

Alvin whipped out his sword, he laid the sharp blade across my neck, pinning me to the door. Toothless roared, ready to pounce on Alvin, but he stopped him.

"Any of you move an inch and the sword goes right across his neck!" Nobody moved. Astrid was trembling from fear and anger, Toothless kept his position growling. Alvin looked at the dragon, then smiled evilly. He tensed his arm, and slid the blade ever so gently across my neck a bit. But that's all it took. I gasped in pain, feeling just a little bit of blood trickle down my neck, but not enough to kill me. My breathing got rasp, and Toothless locked eyes with me. They were full of sorrow and hopeless-ness. He forced himself to calm down, keeping a hateful stare on Alvin. Alvin cackled evilly. "I knew you would think otherwise _Night Fury._ Now, Hiccup lad. You _know_ the treasures beyond that door."

"No I don't," I choked out.

"Yes you do. Didn't we just dare a watery grave?" he asked, pausing like he was expecting an answer. He laughed again. "And what's that I see on the door there? Death's head! Your beast found it. You are the true heir to Grimbeard the Ghastly, and you are the only one who can open that door!"

I immediately began to protest. "No I'm not! Snotlout is! I'm, I'm not fit to be heir! I can't be! Everyone's told me that since day one, and I've forever wanted to prove to them that I can be! Now when I don't want to be, you're telling me I am! I'm not the heir, I'm not the heir!" I started to say it to myself more.

"I don't care child! Your beast found it, and you ARE the HEIR! Now open the gods cursed door or this sword is going right across your neck, and possibly your friend's over there!"

I pressed my lips in a hard line. "Fine. But you have to promise no one gets hurt if I do!"

Alvin then smiled. "Promise. Cross my heart," he said, making an x over his heart with his hook. I scowled at him. He smiled mocking-ly, before lifting the sword off my neck. I breathed in with relief, but he still kept it pointed at my chest. I gradually turned myself around. I stared at the door for a few seconds, trying to think of any way out of this. But I couldn't come up with it. A quick jab to the back with Alvin's sword brought me back to reality. Ever so gently, I eased the door open.

And all our mouths dropped.

Astrid, Alvin, and I all peered in. In the doors was mounds upon mounds of gold and coin. Jewels, necklaces, you name it. It was a giant room filled with treasure. Piled to the top with the stuff. We all slowly trudged in, amazed. Astrid and I stood in front of Alvin, barely able to take it all in. Then I heard a door slam. And a Night Fury yell in rage, before it clawed at the other side of the door.

My eyes widened, and I whipped around to see the door closed, but no Night Fury. Alvin had his sword pointed to me, eyes gleaming and laughing. I could hear Toothless on the other side of the door, running himself against it and clawing at it, but nothing worked.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water's, totally taken off guard. "Y-You promised no one would get hurt!" I screamed outraged.

"Oh, I did boy! But I keep promises to myself first!" I slowly started to back away, but the point on Alvin's sword followed my every move. I looked at Alvin confused. He cackled once again, enjoying himself. "When that coffin took my hand, I promised I'd make Grimbeard pay! I promised myself I'd find that treasure, just to prove Grimbeard wrong, and kill and descendants! Especially his so-called 'true heir'!" He swiped at my chest, and I barely maneuvered out of the way. "Besides," he said, swiping again, "I have no heart."

Alvin advanced on me, swiping his sword back and forth at me. I ducked and dodged, but despite my efforts he ended up piercing my chest. I fell to the ground, clutching at the scrape. I could feel it throbbing. I knew there would be a scar. My back was on the floor, my whole body moving up and down rapidly as I tried to breathe. Alvin just came closer and closer, the sword pointed at me. I reluctantly took my hand off the wound, and tried to sit myself up to defend myself. Alvin slammed his boot on my dislocated shoulder, shoving me back down to the earth. I screamed in pain, earning a cackle from Alvin. I heard Toothless roar outside the door, and all I could do was stare up helpless-ly at Alvin. "Finally." I heard him mutter, and he raised the sword high above his head.

I turned my head, ready for the blow, but someone called my name.

"Hiccup!" I turned to see Astrid with a sword. She tossed it to me, and I jolted up before Alvin could shove me back down to catch it. It landed in my left hand. Alvin yelled in rage, and brought the sword down. I barely held up my own weapon in time to meet his. The swords clanged together, forming a horrible sound of metal on metal. Alvin barred his teeth, pushing harder against his sword to make me fall back over. I nearly did. But one good swipe at his ankle with my metal prosthetic and he was the one on the ground.

I scrambled back up, slipping on coins as I tried to run away. Alvin was up before I knew it, charging at me. He quickly caught up, swinging madly back and forth. Of course I dodged and ducked, maneuvering this way and that, but I was getting tired. I couldn't keep up! "Dodging isn't going to be enough boy! And frankly you'll kill yourself trying to swing!" Alvin mocked.

"Hiccup! You have to swing!" I heard Astrid encourage.

"But I can't!" I whined pathetically, dodging another one of Alvin's blows.

"YOU HAVE TO TRY!"

I huffed, determined. I gathered any strength I had left, and prayed to the gods to be with me, just this once! Alvin swiped at my head, and I ducked. I shot back up, swinging for Alvin's arm.

I heard a yowl of pain, and to my surprise Alvin backed up clutching the upper part of his arm. I saw blood run down his arm like a river, and my eyes widened in surprise. I had actually hit him. I had actually hit him!

"Hiccup, Hiccup you hit him!" I heard Astrid yell.

I almost laughed. I actually swung right! But, but what was so different this time that abled me to swing? I looked down at the hand holding the sword, and it dawned on me. I was using my left hand. All those other times, I had used my right. But I couldn't use my right this time, so I used my left. And there's the solution: I was left handed! Of course one of the simplest answers to one of my biggest problems!

Alvin now directed his attention toward me. "But, but how did you-," he whispered, shocked. He then snarled and charged at me full-force. I lashed out my sword, parrying blows he threw at me. We took turns swinging now, both parrying and dodging out of the way. Something hit Alvin in the head, and his hand flew up to where the object had struck him. Another hit him. It was a coin. We both took a quick look at to where the objects were coming from, and saw Astrid throwing anything at him she could get her hands on.

"Oh, that's not fair now is it? Two against one? What you can't handle this by yourself, Hiccup?" Alvin asked, pausing his swings for the slightest bit. I narrowed my eyes, and swung at his chest. He dodged quickly, and we were swinging back and forth again. Astrid threw another coin.

"Astrid, it's ok! I can handle this!" I shouted to her.

She nearly laughed, but not to mock. More in disbelief. "You _can handle this?_ Hiccup are you serious!" she shouted back, mad at my behavior.

Alvin and I took another round at swinging at each other, and I blocked one of his blows with my sword. With one hard push, I had Alvin on the ground. I turned back to Astrid, "YES!" I shouted. Her mouth was once again gaping, if she was mad or shocked I would never know. But I couldn't worry about it. Alvin was up before I knew it, screaming a war cry and bounding toward me. I swung to meet his blade, cringing at the sound it made as the glided across each other. Alvin was swinging up and down madly, me barely able to parry each blow. But then I saw what he was doing. He was trying to trap me against a wall. I looked around frantically, trying to come up with something to help me. In desperation, I jumped to the side. I started to walk sideways away from the wall, but I tripped. My head hit hard against the stone ground, I looked up anger-ly to see what had tripped me. But when I saw it, my whole body froze in fear.

I transparent tentacle was under my foot. I stuttered, shocked. Then the tentacle shot away, as if it knew it had been discovered. I yelped, surprised when it had moved. My attention was turned away when Alvin started cackling again. I jerked my head up, not knowing what to do. Alvin just slowly shook his head, as if disappointed, and raised the blade above his right shoulder to swipe at me for one final time.

I was about to fight back, but froze instead. Behind Alvin, was the transparent tentacle. It moved around playfully, almost uncontrollably. Alvin didn't even know it was there.

"A-A-Alvin! There's there's!"

He flared at me, outraged. "WHAT BOY! What can you possibly say that-," he was cut off. The tentacle had finally found him, and it quickly wrapped around. He dropped his sword, petrified. Before I could even blink, with a terrified scream Alvin was forcefully pulled back. I paused, not daring to move, I didn't even dare to breathe. Seconds passed. Then there was a blood curtailing scream of anguish. It pierced my entire body, freezing me in place. My breathing was heavy, I gripped the ground in fear. Then, from behind a mound of gold, a transparent beast slowly crawled its way into the open.

It wheezed every-time it breathed. The creature was enormous. Dare I say almost as big as the Green-Death. My breath caught as I noticed its whole entire body was see-through. And in its body was Alvin, sliding down the beast's throat. He wasn't moving, or struggling. That struck more fear into me. Every bad thought crossed my mind. I took a look at its eyes, and noticed it was blind. I never took my eyes off the creature. I ever so slowly eased backwards, trying to get as far away from the thing as possible. But then my metal leg betrayed me. It contacted with the coins on the ground, making the metal on metal noise I dreaded so much. I stopped in my tracks. The beast's ears perked up, trying to determine where the sound had come from.

It stayed like that for what felt like hours. I almost thought it was safe. But then, never moving its head, I saw the creature's eyes point directly at me.

Something warm and firm gripped my chest, squeezing the air out of me. The force was enough I couldn't breathe, and I began struggling against whatever was holding me. I looked down to see the transparent tentacle squeezing my chest. My mouth hung open, my eyes widened.

I screamed as it jerked me up into the air.

**A/N: Oh my gosh. I'm so mean! I just ended it at another cliffie didn't I? I really am sorry, but my brain was screaming at me to stop there! I really was hoping for more action in this chapter, so sorry if any are disappointed. Please review, I'm afraid that there may be only two chapters left! GASP! But if enough people want me to, I will start some drabbles and the sequel (of course!). BUT, you have to review!**

**God Bless!**

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	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello. I would like to say real quick that I would like to dedicate this chapter to all that died in 9/11. It's not much, and has nothing to do with 9/11, but I felt like it still needed to be done.**

_**Chapter 11**_

_**A Finale**_

My legs flailed and I panicked. Before I knew it I was 50 feet in the air, maybe even more. I was thrown back and forth, making my head ache. I decided to try anything to help.

"STOP!" I screamed.

The creature halted, growling. I sucked in trying to gain back my breath, but received almost no too little air. I was getting nauseous, my vision was blurry. The creature positioned me right in front of his face, and our eyes met, whether he knew it or not. The blank orbs were wide in fury, the teeth barred into a determined line. The tentacle around me tightened, I thought my chest was going to burst into a million pieces. I hissed in pain, squeezing my eyes shut. To my surprise, the tentacle loosened around my chest, and the beast groaned.

My eyes shot open. The beast was centimeters from my face, yet its eyes were staring in the distance. My breath caught as it started to sniff me up and down, still too close for comfort. It narrowed his eyes in confusion. I started to hyperventilate. It rammed his snout into my cheek, sucking in a deep breath to inhale my scent. I heaved my arms out of the grasp of the tentacle; and tried to shove the giant snout away. The creature reared back, snarling in frustration. I clutched the tentacle, shoving myself up trying to escape its grasp. It shook me hard, and I stopped any struggle. It roared, vibrating off the cave. My hands flew to my ears, trying to muffle the sound wave. The scream finally died, and I hesitantly took my hands off my ears.

The beast cocked his head, almost curious with me. I cocked my own head; I was frightened but interested all the same. I all of the sudden shot in the air a few more feet, the creature's head shot toward me. I gasped when it's ear pressed against my chest. It's eyes zig-zagged back and forth, almost to the rhythm to my heart.

"Hiccup!"

My head turned downward to see a panicked Astrid. The creature grunted, narrowing his face as if to process my name. It slowly turned its head once more. I yelped when the creature turned me upside-down. My arms hung limply, I could feel the blood rush to my head. The prosthetic acted as a weight, and my legs bent forward uncomfortably. It drew closer, examining me. It backed up a little bit. But then it started gently shaking me, as if expecting something to happen. I clutched at the tentacle with my one good hand, feeling myself slipping from the beast's hold. It suddenly stopped, backing up to look at me once more, while I was still upside-down.

I was beginning to think it was safe. Maybe the creature actually liked me. _Maybe_ it would let me go. Then it smiled evilly, and all hope dwindled away. I should have known by now! Why didn't I know by now! It, it was just playing with its prey!

It raised one of its tentacles, and on the end of that tentacle, was a needle dripping with green poison. A poison that would instantly kill once it entered the blood stream. I started hyperventilating again, struggling and flailing my limp legs everywhere.

Then the beast roared, louder than it had before. My gaze shot downward for a second time. Astrid had struck the bottom of the beast with a sword. It hissed at her, swinging his tentacle at an attempt to swat at her. She easily dodged him, somersaulting to the side. Another tentacle shot up behind her, and right as she turned the tentacle whipped her into the air.

"ASTRID!"

She landed feet away, unconscious.

"No!" I shouted. The creature turned its attention to me, so heated it's see-through skin was turning a slight pink. It flipped me so I was right-side up, it's nose scrunched up like it had just smelt something horrid. Then the door busted down.

Toothless shot in with a mighty scream, letting a blue ball of fire shoot across the room. He halted in his tracks, looking around the room. His eyes went directly to the beast holding me, with a needle full of poison pointed at my chest. He screeched in fury, shooting himself at the transparent beast. Good. That gave me just enough time.

When I looked back up Toothless was biting down with his gums on one large tentacle, then I heard his teeth inject into the thin frail skin. The beast roared in pain. He took a giant tentacle and wrapped in around Toothless, flinging him nearly 15 feet away.

"TOOTHLESS!"

Toothless landed in a pile of coins, his claws screeching against metal and the dirt stone ground. He sprung back up, roaring a warning. The beast looked to him, then me. He looked at Toothless again, an evil, sly smile forming on his lips. He emitted a short roar to Toothless, as if taunting him. Then looking back at me with the sick-pleasure I've seen too many times that day, he drove the end of the needle into my chest.

I was holding my breath without realizing it. When the needle was driven toward my chest, my breath had unwillingly escaped my mouth. I tensed up, not daring to move. Toothless screamed in distress, that slowly died into a low pitiful whine of anguish. Astrid slowly came back to consciousness, and all she saw was the need in my chest. She couldn't even make a sound. Her eyes widened, horrified, a pathetic wail escaped her lips. I turned to look at her, but a pained scream distracted me.

It was the transparent beast. He was turning green, and his tentacles were twitching uncontrollably. I was once again being thrown back and forth; I almost thought my neck would just snap off. His eyes were dilating, his nostrils flaring. His fanged mouth was jerking open and close, like a fish out of water. He had lost total control over his nervous system. With a pained, angry screech, the beast fell to the ground. With me in his tentacle, the needle still sticking out.

I screamed as I fell to the stone, still gripped in the tentacle. I hit the ground hard, knocking all breath out of me. I heard Astrid run to me from behind, Toothless was bounding toward me with a panicked expression. But my vision was getting dark. My whole body ached. And everything went black.

O~~~~~~O

It was dark. I couldn't see, and I was scared. I heard a distant voice calling my name.

"Hiccup! HICCUP! Hiccup, please! GOOD GODS! WAKE UP!" someone wailed. The voice dropped to a whisper, like they had given up. "Please. Please wake up." I then heard an inhuman whine, a broken sob almost. I felt a something moist gently lick at my cheek.

I groaned, and my eyes fluttered open.

"Astrid?" A hoarse voice asked. I think it may have been mine.

Astrid at first looked alarmed. Slowly her face lit up, a broad smile forming on her lips. She let out a breath of relief, and I noticed a tear trail down her cheek. She lifted me up, and we hugged each other, but it was uncomfortable for some reason. Astrid was to the side, in an awkward position. Toothless nuzzled my cheek, and he began to gently lick it. I then took a look at my surroundings, and I didn't recognize them.

"Where are we?" I asked quietly.

Toothless stopped licking my cheek, looking at me curiously. Astrid pulled away, a confused expression on her face. "Hiccup, we're in the cavern. You can't remember?"

Then it all came rushing back. Treasure. Skullions. Outcasts. Alvin. The transparent beast. The needle and tentacle still wrapped around my chest. I saw Astrid staring at the objects in disbelief, eyes wide.

"Hiccup. How-I thought-what-," she stammered.

I chuckled a bit. Now it made sense. They hadn't seen what I done. I pulled farther back, and slowly began to lift my shirt. Astrid's mouth dropped, Toothless's eyes were wide in doubt. Cause under my shirt, was the tentacle. And in the tentacle, was the needle. Astrid's eyes flickered to mine, looking for an explanation.

"I-I," I stuttered, still dazed, "I remember pulling my shirt over the tentacle while Toothless was attacking the beast. I was just praying on luck that the needle would stab it, not me."

Astrid still stared in disbelief, but almost in complete awe. "Hiccup, I swear you were touched by the Gods or something!" She then smashed her lips against mine. I groaned, taken off guard. She pulled away, smiling. I smiled back at her. She lightly gripped the needle, and pulled it out of the tentacle. We both slowly unwrapped the tentacle from around my chest. I tried to stand up, but my one arm gave out and I thumped back to the ground. Toothless stuck his head under my arm, and with his help I slowly stood up.

A pain shot through the back of my head. My hand shot to the back of my skull, and I had to lean heavily against Toothless to stand. I pulled my hand away to look at it, and saw it was covered in sticky blood. I sighed.

"What did I fall on?" I mumbled to myself. I looked back to see where my head had landed, and my eyes widened. There was a necklace. With a gleaming ruby in the middle, it reminded me of a dragon's eye. Cradling around the jewel, was a silver dragon. Its tail wrapped twice around the ruby, its head curled at the top. The silver mouth was open, as if ready to breathe fire. Around the end of its tail was red liquid, I'm guessing my blood. Toothless followed my gaze, and moved so I could pick it up. I gingerly pinched the long chain, staring in awe and doubt.

"Hiccup," Astrid whispered, "do you think?" I looked to her, slowly shaking my head.

"It's not. That's just a fairy-tale. The Dragon Stone is not real," I simply stated.

Astrid's blue eyes twinkled like a child's. "But what if it is! Aren't you the slightest bit curious?"

"I am, but-."

"Then try it on!"

I looked to her, alarmed. "What?"

_"Try _it on_."_

I looked at the stone, wondering if I should. I quickly shook my head. "No. No. I don't want to."

"What? Why?" she asked.

"I don't know, I just don't want to! It's useless anyway, it won't work," I replied.

"You don't know that. Just try it on, please?" she begged.

I looked at her, then sighed. "Fine." She smiled wide. "But you have to first!"

She then looked baffled. "Huh? Me? We determined you're the heir, why me?"

"I, I don't know! I just want you to first," I said, holding the stone to her. She reluctantly took it, delicately putting it on her neck.

"Ok Toothless, speak!" She commanded with a smile. Toothless cocked his head, then grumbled something. I looked to Astrid, waiting to see her reaction. She chuckled lightly. "Hiccup nothing happened." I looked down, disappointed. "Now _you_ have to try it on," she said with a smile. I almost grimaced, and took the necklace from her. I put it around my neck, but kept my stare down at my feet.

_"Hiccup it's not going to work."_

I looked up to Astrid, a bit annoyed. "Astrid I know it won't work, that's what I'm trying to tell you!"

Her head shot up, "What are you talking about?"

"You said it was going to work. . ."

Her eyes widened, the corners of her lips actually turned to a smile. "Hiccup I didn't say anything."

"Then who. . ." I turned to my dragon, feeling almost light-headed. He looked at me, confused. "Toothless. . ."

"_What did I do now?" _he said. Wait. _He_ said?

"Toothless! Toothless you're talking!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"_I've been able to talk since I was a hatchling, of course I am!"_ he said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes.

"No, no I mean I understand you! I can understand you!"

"_You can?"_

"No, I'm just having a totally normal conversation with you. YES, I can understand you!"

_"You can!"_

He jumped on me, thrilled with the fact we could talk now. He pinned me to the ground, his tongue sliding up and down my face. I chuckled as the tongue tickled my cheek, and I was thrown into fits of laughter. "Tooth-Toothless stop! Haha, stop!" I begged. He smiled his gummy smile, and helped me back to my feet. Astrid rushed over and threw her arms over me.

"See! I told you, I told you! You can understand dragons now!" she exclaimed, releasing me.

"You were right, you were right! I can understand Toothless, I can understand dragons!" And then I fully took it into realization. "Oh my gods. I can-," I started to feel woozy.

"Hiccup, you ok?" Astrid asked.

"Understand dragons." And, I pathetically fainted.

"_Aww, Hiccup you fainted,"_ Toothless stated. He helped me up, a smile playing on his face.

"Yes," I said woozily, "Thank you Toothless." He nuzzled my stomach.

Astrid patted my good shoulder, smiling. I smiled back at her, but then realized the problem at hand. "Umm, guys? We're still stuck in this cave," I said. Astrid's smile dropped, and she looked at her feet.

_"No we're not_."

I looked to my dragon. "What do you mean?" I asked warily, still totally surprised and taken off guard with the fact I was talking to my dragon.

_"I'm a Night Fury, Hiccup. I can get us out of here,"_ he explained, "_I'm fast enough to swim to the surface. At least I should be."_

"Toothless, are you sure? We don't even know how far it is!" I said.

_"Of course I'm sure. We can't be that far, can we? Trust me, I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't sure,"_ he said prideful-ly. _"You do trust me, don't you?"_ he asked, looking worried.

"What? Yes, of course I trust you!"

"_Then come on!" _he said, and started walking to the door. I still leaned on his neck, finding it hard to walk still.

"What he say?" Astrid asked.

"He said he can get us to the surface," I explained.

"He can?"

"According to him, yes," I said, smiling to her. She nodded, understanding. I reached to pull the door open, but Astrid put her hand on it, and shut it. "What?" I asked her.

"Read the back of the door, Hiccup."

I looked at her curiously, then turned my attention to the door. To my disbelief, there was a full letter. Written by Grimbeard the Ghastly, to me. "Well?" Astrid asked.

"What?"

"Did you read it?"

"No. . ."

"Well read it!"

I nodded, then read the letter. It said:

Dear Heir

I have had a glorious Viking life. But now that I am an old, old man, I find I am not happy with my fifty years of robbery and treason. I wonder if I might have run things differently. This treasure for instance. The sagas will tell you that the stealing of it was my most magnificent moment. But since then, it has been tearing my once-happy band of burglars apart with greed, and lust for power. We are just not ready to look after this treasure.

So I have decided to get rid of it.

I know that there will be men who will hear of the Legend of the Treasure and Dragon Stone and come looking for it, and for them I have buried a small chest on the Isle of Skullions as a decoy, so that they will think that the hunt ends there. I have hidden the real treasure in the underground cavern. It has taken many months for my dragons to swim down here with it. It is guarded by water one way, the caves the other. I have placed a small Strangulator in the cavern who shall grow in time to be a terrible guardian for the treasure. I dream of a time in the future when men will be able to own such beautiful and dangerous things and use them wisely.

I dream of an Heir who shall be a Dragon-Whisperer, a Swordfighter, a Man who talks with Monsters and who will harness the power of Thor's thunder itself. . . This Heir will come and he will find my treasure. I give it to him freely, all of it, and he shall know what to do with it.

I wish you luck and give you a nice strong wind.

Grimbeard the Ghastly

"Wow," I sighed.

"Well," Astrid said, "What are you going to do with it?"

I sighed, what was I going to do with it? Could I show it to the others? Then I remembered the terrifying look of greed in my Father's eyes, and knew what to do. I looked around me, and found a piece of burnt charcoal. I picked it up, and wrote on the door.

'Still Not Ready'

I sighed, almost sad with what I had to do. I began to take the Dragon Stone off my neck.

Astrid grabbed my hand, "What are you doing?"

"You heard what the letter said. The treasure would tear Berk apart! I can't show it to them, I can't keep the stone," I said glumly.

_"But I like being able to talk with you!"_ Toothless whined.

I sighed again, and tried to explain to him, but Astrid cut me off. "Keep the stone Hiccup. We don't have to show them the treasure, just keep the stone! You're right, it would tear us apart. But, Hiccup, you're the true heir, we have to tell them that!"

"No, Astrid. They'll know I know where the treasure is. Besides, I want them to think me as the heir because I showed them, not some treasure." Astrid nodded, understanding.

"Keep the stone."

"Astrid-."

"Hide it under your tunic, keep the stone! It would help us so much, people don't need to know you have it! Come on, keep it for Toothless," she urged. I looked to my dragon, his eyes wide with hope. I sighed once more, and slipped it back on. I carefully tucked it in my tunic, and Astrid and Toothless smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Come on," I said, "let's go."

We walked along the cavern, my hand still on Toothless and Astrid kept her hand on my hurt shoulder. We finally came to the pool of water, and I looked at it nervously. Toothless looked to me, concerned.

_"Come on. I won't let anything happen to you or Astrid," _Toothless said, trying to calm me.

I smiled. "Thanks buddy."

He gave me another gummy-smile, and slipped carefully in the water. Astrid helped me in, me with only one hand and a metal leg. I grabbed onto Toothless's neck, and watched Astrid lower herself down into the pool. She grasped the other side of Toothless's neck, and nodded to me.

_"Hold on tightly, please,"_ Toothless cautioned.

"Ok," I said, "let's go Toothless."

And he dove into the water.

**A/N: That, actually didn't turn out how I wanted it to. Oh well. Hope you guys like it! ****Yes, I know I'm late for 9/11, but I still wanted to dedicate it to them. And just in case you didn't catch on, Dragon talk will be written **_like this. _**Thanks for reading, next chapter will be the last. But there will be an epilogue. So. . . yeah. Ok, I'll shut-up. Reviews are LOVED!**

**God Bless!**

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	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: FINAL CHAPTER! But there will be an epilogue. NOTICE: The epilogue will not be like the one in + the book with 85 year old Hiccup and such. I don't know, I just thought people would like it better if I added a little funny-sorta epilogue instead. If enough people request 85 year old Hiccup although, I will do 85 year old Hiccup.**

**Disclaimer: Excuse me, while I go cry.**

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Berk**_

Without Alvin on his back, Toothless was shooting faster through the icy-waters. It was absolutely freezing; it felt like needles were piercing my skin the faster he went. Closing my eyes tight and shrinking closer to the warm flank under me, I counted the seconds it took us to reach the surface. Finally, after ages, Toothless broke the exterior of the still waters.

We all gladly sucked in air, blinking the salt water out of our eyes. I looked at Astrid, who gave me a small smile. I smiled back crookedly, earning a giggle from her. Toothless peered one eye at me, concerned.

"_You both ok?"_

"Yes, we're fine bud," I replied.

"Oh, no," I heard Astrid mumble.

"What?"

"You two!" I looked at her, questioningly. She smiled playfully back, "You two are gonna have all your little secret conversations! That's going to get on my nerves. . ."

All I did was chuckle lightly back. Toothless rolled his eyes, but with a small smile. Astrid shook her head slightly, but kept the light-hearted smile.

"So. . . ." I began, "any idea where Berk would be?"

"No idea," Astrid replied.

_"Eh hem,"_ Toothless said, looking expectantly at us. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. _"Well look right in front of you."_

I did what I was told, and mentally slapped myself. The cliffs of Berk were right there, greeting us. It was a pleasant comfort, finally seeing something that reminded me so much of home. "Oh," I murmured. Toothless smirked a bit, before straightening himself out and doing his best to swim the nearly 200 yards to the shore. Coincidentally, it was the same shore we had swam too when the ship had crashed and we found the coffin.

Toothless kept getting dragged under water with our weight. I felt bad, what was this the 6th time he saved us from drowning?

"Toothless, you ok buddy?" I asked, getting concerned.

_"Please, I'm fine. Water never hurt anybody."_

"Really? Cause it looks like we're about to drown you," I protested.

"_Hush. We're almost there,"_ he commanded, seeming agitated. Not wanting to annoy the dragon, I shut my mouth. Within just a few more minutes, Toothless gratefully came to the shore. Astrid and I let go of him when our feet could touch the bottom. Toothless then quickly paddled himself to the shore and thumped to the ground, exhausted. And then, of course, he sneezed a great big ball of fire in the other direction.

Astrid and I looked at each other with a slight frown. She grabbed my hand and we finished walking the way to the shore; we parted, and sat on both sides of Toothless with our legs crossed. He looked between us, almost confused.

_"What?"_ he asked, looking to me.

"Umm," I stumbled at first, "Thanks Toothless. For, you know, saving us from dying. Again." I smiled, scratching the dragon behind his ear.

He narrowed his eyes in thought, then gave a hearty chuckle. _"You're very welcome,"_ he said, nuzzling against my hand, _"but I swear on the dragon gods if you, or Astrid for that matter, get yourselves in a near-death situation again, I'm locking you in your room. Forever. Got it?"_

I scratched the dragon again, making him purr, and gave a small laugh. "Yeah. Got it." Astrid looked to me with curious eyes. "He said that if any of us risks our lives again, he's locking us in our rooms."

She smiled lightly, but the confused expression stayed on her face. She gave a small giggle, patting the dragon on the head. "Hm. He's a bit over-protective, isn't he?" she said with laughing eyes. I nodded anxiously, mouthing the words yes. Toothless then looked to me, and I quickly shook my head and started mouthing the word no, giving the 'she's crazy!' look. Satisfied, he grumbled and rested his head on the sand. I looked to Astrid again, again nodding in agreement with her. She snorted, making Toothless shoot his head up to give us both a confused look. I smiled crookedly, and patted him on the head.

_"What? Did I do something wrong?"_ he asked.

"No bud, you're fine," I said, giving him a warm smile. He still looked confused, rolling his eyes.

_"Geez and she said it would get annoying when we started having secret conversations; well look who's talking now!"_ he said with an annoyed look. I burst into laughter and scratched his head again. He snorted, closing his eyes and laying his head on the warm sand again. Astrid and I both lied slightly against his flank, feeling sleepy ourselves. Before I knew it I heard the Astrid's breathing even into a soft pattern; she had fallen asleep. Toothless turned his head to look at both of us with groggy eyes, before placing his wings over us. Looking pleased with himself, he laid his head back down giving a content sigh. I smiled, giving the dragon a final scratch. My eye-lids began to feel heavy, and soon the warm flank of the dragon and soothing pattern of Astrid's breath had lulled me to sleep.

O~~~~~~O

It was nearly sun-set when we woke up. The sky had just begun to develop an orange and pink hue, making the white clouds stand out against the colors. It was breath-taking, reminding me of when Toothless (I had no part in it!) had 'kidnapped' Astrid and flew through the clouds. Smiling to myself, I laid my head back down and waited for the two to wake up.

I didn't have to wait too long. They slowly came back to reality, and without talking we all stood and tried to find our way back to our village. Luckily we knew the way because of the previous ship-wreck. Doesn't mean it didn't take us a shorter amount of time, unfortunately.

The trek was long, uneventful, and just a full-on nuisance. I tripped at least 7 times, not even able to catch myself because of my arm. Luckily the other 10 times Astrid or Toothless was there to break my fall.

_"I swear Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, you will be the death of me!"_ Toothless joked.

I simply smiled to him, and we continued. An hour and a half. An hour and a half is how long it took us just to see the lights of the village flicker on as the moon shadowed above the horizon. I smiled, knowing we were just minutes from home. Everybody probably thought we were dead. Heck even I thought we were going to die!

I looked down at my chest, wondering if the Dragon Stone was visible or not. Luckily the tunic and vest hid it pretty well, and as we all know my tribe isn't exactly observant. Or smart for that matter. For once I praised the Gods for my tribe's denseness.

Finally, after defeating Skullions, an evil Outcast, and the so called 'Strangulator', we had arrived to the comfort of home.

All the windows were shut. Not a door was open. Nobody bustled about and no children darted around to be yelled at by their parents. It was eerie. The air held a sad thickness that could choke you. Had everyone made it back alright? I felt Astrid squeeze my shoulder harder, fearing the worst. I was almost shaking with anxiety. But then, ever so faintly, we heard the clinking of metal far off, in the shop where Gobber and I worked. Then I heard the cursing of a familiar voice with a strong accent.

We froze. Astrid and I looked at each other, our hopes soaring.

"Gobber!" I yelled. Astrid and I both started sprinting towards the forge, eager to see a familiar face. Toothless followed behind, getting anxious and excited. I practically busted the door down, praying to any Gods that would listen everyone was ok. I heard some more cursing, and the slight thud of Gobber's wooden peg leg thumping against the ground. He came to the front of the forge, looking down and rubbing his head as if he had hit it on something hard. He muttered a few more curses under his breath.

"For the love of the Gods, what do ye-," he finally looked up and saw us, his eyes widening and a smile forming, "Hiccup?"

Astrid and I both smiled ear to ear. "Gobber!" We both ran to him and he pulled us into a quick hug. We stepped back, smiling and grateful to see someone we knew, and didn't want us dead. Gobber looked totally flabbergasted, and then of course I knew why the village was so quiet. Astrid, Toothless, and I had been last seen trapped under the boat. Everyone thought we were dead.

"But, how boy! The whole town thinks ye' two ar' dead!"

I just grinned, and gestured to Toothless. Gobber looked back and forth between all of us at first, then a smile grew on his face. He gave a loud, hearty laugh, tossing his hands in the air.

"I don't know how you do it boy, but if you didn't have that dragon I don't know what would've happened to you by now!" he bellowed. He started pacing back and forth in the shop, babbling about what a klutz I am and he's surprised that I still have most of my limbs (with the one exception, of course). "For the love of the Gods, I have no idea how your Father," his face then became serious, almost concerned, "Oh Thor Stoick! He thinks you're dead!"

My own eyes widened, and I felt myself panic a bit. "What? Where is he!" I demanded.

"Most of 'em are in the hall, mourning your loss!" he exclaimed. At first we just stood there dumbfounded, before Gobber ushered us all out the door. "Well what are you doing here! GO you two!" Coming back to our thoughts, we sped out the door and raced to the hall.

Gobber followed close behind, looking as frantic as us. Astrid raced in front, me right behind her. Toothless kept alongside me, looking worried. And of course, letting myself get distracted, I tripped. Toothless was barely able to swoop down in time to catch me.

"Thanks bud," I mumbled. Not even waiting for a reply I straightened myself and sprinted towards the hall again. Finally I saw the dim-lit building almost glowing in contrast with the rest of the village. Astrid had already busted threw the door when I was still feet behind. I heard her shout for her parents, before I threw myself through the doorway.

"Dad!" I shouted.

The hall was filled with people, but all were silent and completely dumbfounded. I looked over and saw Astrid in a hug with her family, but who I really wanted to see then was my dad. I finally spotted him at the front of the hall as usual, his eyes glazed over and looking totally surprised. I felt my smile grow and I ran forward to him.

"Dad!" I yelled, running into him as he pulled me into a hug. I stiffened, surprised. I eventually calmed and hugged back. I felt his body shaking as he pulled away to look at me.

"But, how! We saw you go under," he said, his voice quivering a bit.

I smiled once again, and looked at my dragon who was hovering in the back. But dad looked to Toothless, then back to me. His hard eyes lightened, and a broad grin cut through his fierce features. He hugged me again, but this time lifting me off the ground.

"Dad!" I choked out, "Put me down! You're crushing my ribcage!"

"Give me a moment, I thought you were dead 5 minutes ago!" he protested, getting a bit of a laugh from the crowd.

"Still can't breathe!" I squeaked. He bellowed with laughter, before gently setting me back down. I stood to the side of him, his hand on my shoulder. He beckoned Astrid forward; she smiled and made her way to my side. She held my good hand, and we smiled to each other. "HOOLIGANS!" my Father bellowed for the second time that day, "My son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, and Astrid Hofferson has returned!" The whole crowd exploded with cheers and whistles. Astrid caught up in the excitement smashed her lips against mine. As she pulled away I could feel the slight blush on my cheeks and the goofy grin peeking it's way on my mouth. I laughed and put my good arm around her, hugging her tighter. As the crowd cheered, my Father looked to Toothless.

He smiled broadly, and waved his hand to sign Toothless closer. Toothless at first looked nervous: sure he knew my Dad but it didn't mean they were the best of friends. Toothless stepped back a little. My Father's smile dropped the slightest bit. "Come on Toothless, I won't hurt you now!" he assured. Toothless looked surprised when my Father actually called him by his name. It was usually 'black beast' or 'devil' or in a good mood 'that creature'. Toothless looked to me, searching for reassurance.

I stepped forward a bit, and gestured for him to come closer. "Come on buddy," I whispered, "Everything's fine."

_"Hiccup. . ."_

I raised my eye-brows. "You're fine," I mouthed. With one more nervous glance to me, Toothless made his way forward. He stopped in front of my Father, still looking a bit nervous. My Father smiled broadly, and kneeled down so he was eye-level with Toothless. My Dad raised his hand and placed it on the Night Fury's snout. Toothless at first looked puzzled, his eye's widening.

"Thank you, for saving my son."

Toothless gave my Father a gummy-smile; he closed his eyes and nuzzled against his hand. My Dad gave a hearty laugh, and stood back up.

_"Well I wasn't going to let him die. . ."_ Toothless said, rolling his eyes. I shook my head and stifled a chuckle. Toothless noticed my laugh. He gave me his signature grin, and came to stand by me. Astrid patted his head, making him purr, and with a peck on my cheek she went to reunite with family and friends. I sighed, giving Toothless a crooked smile. I bent down to be eye-level with the dragon, placing my hand on his snout.

"We've been through a lot, huh bud?" I whispered.

"_Yes,"_ he chuckled, _"and knowing you, I can guarantee we're nowhere near done."_

O~~~~~~O

**A/N: I was thinking about continuing, but I'll just save that for the epilogue ; ) I really hope you guys liked this, it was probably the most fun thing I've ever written. And guess what? I've got drabble ideas! And even the first chapter of the sequel planned out! Drabbles will be first, sequel second. Review please! They make me feel special! : )**

**God bless! 3**

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	14. Epilogue

**A/N: Here is the epilogue. Mhm. I would LOVE to thank everybody who reviewed alert'd or favorite'd or all of the above! You are my inspiration! You make me feel so durn special! Thank you soo much I hope you enjoyed the story. Be looking for the drabbles and sequel!**

**Disclaimer: *Let's out big sigh* NO. *cries***

_**Sticks & Stone**_

We retired early that night. There was a big celebration in the Hall, and with that came the mead. Toothless and I both decided it'd be a good idea to skip the alcohol tonight.

Dad assured me we'd never see the Outcasts again. They were being kept where we use to keep the dragons: you know when we were trying to kill them. He said a lot of the other Vikings suggested putting them all to death and letting them burn like they were going to let us burn. My Father full-heartily disagreed and said we'd be no better than them, we'd be complete barbarians he said. They were to be sold into slavery the next morning, never to be seen again. I admired my Father for this.

Finally arriving to the house, Toothless helped me up the steps to my room. With little conversation, we both settled down for a well-deserved rest. I tore off my prosthetic and got comfortable in the covers, shutting my eyes and waiting for sleep. And then realization hit me. My eyes shot open. I could use the Dragon Stone. I could talk to dragons. I could talk to Toothless. I could talk to Toothless!

What in Thor's name was a doing going to sleep!

"Toothless," I whispered, sitting up in bed.

"_Mm?"_

"You awake?"

He heaved a big sigh, and sat up to look at me with groggy eyes. _"I am now."_

"I'm sorry to wake you," I apologized.

He raised his eyes, and smiled slightly. He stretched and strutted over to my bed, resting his head on the mattress. _"Tis' fine little brother, tis' fine,"_ he said, a joking tone in his voice.

I raised an eye-brow. "Little brother?" I asked, a little surprised he had referred to me as that.

_"Yes,"_ he explained, _"If it weren't for the whole different specie's thing, I'd consider you family to me. Is that a problem?"_

"Uh," I stuttered a little a first, "No. Of course not, it's fine."

He smiled toothless-ly. _"Good."_

It was quiet for a moment, both of us just kinda staring into space. "Hey Toothless. . ."

_"Yes?"_ he said, almost a knowing look on his face.

I chuckled a bit. "Um, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

Toothless let out a light snicker. _"Of course he has questions,"_ he muttered to himself. _"Sure, I don't see why-."_

"Why are you the only Night Fury in the nest?" I interrupted, quickly shrinking back as I realized I had cut him off. "Sorry," I muttered.

He gave a small smile. _"Night Furies don't get along. We can be possessive, explaining the over-protectiveness. . ."_ he said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I smiled sheepishly and he continued. _"There's usually only one per nest. Which also means we rarely mate, because we rarely meet another Night Fury to mate with. Making it a lucky find when you see a Night Fury."_

I smiled, full of curiosity. "Huh. Really?"

_"I don't see why I would lie about that. . ."_

"That's really interesting," I said, grinning, "Another question. Why did you listen to that big dragon, you know the one we destroyed a couple months ago?" I joked. "If you and me could destroy it, why didn't you guys?"

He let out a big sigh. _"Well,"_ he sighed again, _"We couldn't. She had a control over us. It was a cursed thing, not being able to control your own mind. I hated it. I dreaded it,"_ he sighed once again, and I started to get concerned, _"It was like her will became our instinct. And then the other dragons you used for training, and myself, found riders. It was like the spell was broken! Finally having our minds back! It was great! When we found riders, that was when we could fight back," _he finished.

I was stunned. "Wow. That sounds. . .horrible; to have your mind controlled like that I mean."

He breathed out a laugh. _"Yeah, it was,"_ he dropped down to a whisper, _"she even gave me thoughts of killing you, trying to convince me that's what I had to do. She gave me dreams of ripping you limb to limb,"_ he said, his eyes full of shame. He nuzzled against my legs and I patted the top of his head.

"It's ok bud. It wasn't you thinking it," I said, trying to soothe him.

_"But it felt like it!"_ he said, voice full of despair. He rested his head down on my legs, closing his eyes. I scratched behind his ear, frowning. He eventually let out a long sigh. _"Can we change the subject?_" he said, opening his eyes. His voice wasn't sad, almost as if he was angry.

"Sure, bud," I said. I scrambled through my mind, looking for another question. "Um-," I began, but he cut me off.

_"Can I ask you a question?"_

I smiled lightly. "Sure. Go for it."

_"Why did you name me Toothless! Toothless? Really? I have teeth! See!"_ He lifted his head and opened his mouth, his teeth shooting out of his gums. _"See? Teeth!" _He was smiling, and despite the fact he wanted to sound upset it wasn't working.

I chuckled. "I don't know! I thought of it and boom! Your name is Toothless. It just stuck!" I explained, holding my hands up in defeat.

_"Still. Toothless? What about Killer! or something like that," _he suggested.

I laughed, and turned myself so I could hang upside down over the edge of the bed. "Well," I explained, "think about it this way. There's a reason my name is Hiccup. Vikings believe the weirder or stranger the name, the more it'll frighten off trolls or goblins and stuff like that. So, the name 'Toothless' could be good."

_"Really? That's why your parents named you Hiccup?" _he said, cocking his head.

"Well," I chuckled nervously, "there are many other reasons too but that's one of them. And one of the only ones I like to say out loud. . ." I trailed off.

Toothless scoffed. _"Oh please. You really need a confidence boost. You slayed a freak'n 50 foot dragon! That entitles a bit of gloating!"_

"Huh."

_"What?"_

"I didn't know dragons used the word freak'n. . ."

_"Hiccup, I'm serious," _he whined.

"So am I!"

_"Hiccup. Would you please, and I _beg, _quit looking down upon yourself! We all have flaws. But we all have good things about ourselves, too. But all you see in yourself are flaws! Name one good thing about yourself. Now,"_ he commanded.

"Toothless, no. You sound like my mother."

_"Hiccup. . ."_

"Toothless. . ." I mimicked.

_"Hiccup!"_ he roared.

"Aw, for the love of! Fine. Whatever," I gave in. I sat and thought for a little bit. Toothless looked at me annoyed. I shrugged my shoulders. He rolled his eyes and grumbled a bit. He wacked me in the head with his prosthetic tail; I bolted upright and sat criss-cross on the bed, rubbing the soon-to-be bump on my head. "Ow! Toothless that hurt! What was that for?" I complained. He sighed heavily. He put the fake fin right in front of my face, waving it around a bit for emphasis. I looked at him, understanding what he was trying to point out. I sighed deeply, looking down at my covers. I absent-mindedly started to pick at the loose threads, still staring down at them. "So what? I can make a fake fin. What do I get now, a metal?" I said, looking up at him.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to recollect his thoughts. He then stared up at me with a stern look. _"Hiccup, really? You're joking right? Do you think any of the other Vikings in your tribe would've been smart enough to make this! Well I'll tell you right now the answer is no. But you did! Don't you take any source of pride?"_ he asked, softening his glare.

I sighed again. I shrugged. "I guess," I said slowly, looking at the tail. I narrowed my eyes, examining the handicap. I picked up the prosthetic, closing the fin and reopening it again. "I could improve it though. . ." I mumbled, forgetting Toothless was there.

_"See! There you go!"_

I jumped, remembering Toothless was in the room. "What?"

He snickered. _"Look, you're searching for ways to improve ALL the time! No Viking I've ever met is that persistent. You are different, you can't throw a hammer, you can't swing an ax, and by the beginning fires do you ever eat!" _he said, looking at my bone of an arm.

"Geez thanks," I muttered.

_"But,"_ he cut in, giving me a hard glare, _"That's a good thing. You look at things differently. You find ways to swing an ax, you find ways to throw a hammer, and, well I don't know what you could do about the whole skinny part but that's not the point! Vikings need more people with brains like you, maybe we would've been at peace centuries ago if we did," _he stated, smiling at the end. I sighed, giving him a lop-sided grin.

"Thanks, Toothless."

He looked up at me and blinked. _"Very welcome."_

I traced the patterns of the quilt with my finger, while Toothless stood staring into space. It stayed silent for a while; but it wasn't the eerie kind of silence, it was honestly kinda comfortable. We had been used to sitting in silence, it made sense that we still wouldn't chatter much anyway. I took a quick glance at Toothless, who's eyes were drooping with laziness. Then I noticed something. Were those: _wrinkles _I see! I let out a light chuckle, lucky enough that the dragon didn't notice.

"Hey Toothless," I began calmly.

_"Yes Hiccup?"_ he said, turning his attention towards me.

I didn't smile, but kept a calm face when I asked, "How old are you?"

His eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head to make up for it. He smiled sheepishly, (with no teeth of course). He began to laugh nervously, unable to stop himself. _"Uh, huhuh, you see, I uhhhhhh. . ."_ he started to back away from the bed, still chuckling nervously. _"I'm not that old for a dragon, par say, I'm actually quite young,"_ he said nervously. Not noticing where he was going, he backed up right into the wall. After muttering a couple of curses about the beginning fires and 'Mother of all Dragons!' and a couple of other things inappropriate for this fanfiction, he quickly looked at me and tried to explain. _"BUT! But but but, I am old enough that I would not like to say in front of you or anyone else! So, I'm all of the sudden hungry! STARVING! I'm gonna go hunting, so don't get up! I got this. . . Um, sleep well, lock the doors and window, blah blah blah, um, yeah bye!" _And with that, he bounded towards the window and was about to leap out when I decided to intervene.

"Wait! Toothless, that's not fair!" I said, and made to run after him. It was when my face met the wooden floor I realized that I didn't have my prosthetic on. And, of course, I landed right on the delicate flesh that was still healing around my 'stump'. I hissed in pain, clutching the stump to try to stop the burning. Toothless stopped in his tracks, and looking like he was deciding between running or helping me. He looked at me clutching the stump sympathetically, and walked over to help me up.

He nudged my hands that had a death-grip on the burning flesh. _"Let me see it,"_ he commanded. Feeling self-conscious, I shook my head and gripped harder on the stinging flesh. He sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering something about a stubborn boy, before gently shoving me down to the ground with his paw.

"Toothless, cut it out!" I whined. He snorted. He kept his paw on my chest so I couldn't get back up, and examined the stump. He nosed it, before gently licking it. I honestly did not want anyone near my half-leg, it was an uncomfortable position even if it was just Toothless. I sighed in annoyance, despite the fact that the cooling affect his tongue had made the burn feel ten-times better. I grimaced none the less, and he looked at me and snickered.

_"Whatever, I know it feels better now," _he said with an amused smile. I sighed heavily, but smiled anyway.

"Thanks," I muttered. He nodded in reply, snagging his claw on my tunic and heaving me up so I was sitting up-right. "So. . ." I said slyly, "will you admit how old you are now?"

He snorted, quickly helping me stand up. He looked at me seriously. _"I'll never admit anything to you,"_ he said. He hastily made his way toward the window, jumping on the ledge.

"Hey wait, why not!" I demanded. He paused and looked back at me.

He chuckled lightly. _"Go to sleep."_

"What? No way! Tell me how old you are!" I said, and after he raised his eyes at me I added a quick, "pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

_"I said go to sleep Hiccup," _he said as he jumped out of the window.

"Toothless!" I complained.

_"Good-night!" _he called amused.

I sighed, thumping back on the bed. "Stubborn dragon," I muttered under my breath.

_"I heard that!"_

"Good!" I shouted, laughing at the end. I then heard the thuds of his footsteps at he ran away. I smiled, before pulling the Dragon-Stone out of my tunic to really look at it.

It really was the finest piece of jewelry I've ever seen. Which wouldn't be much do to the fact we're Vikings, but still fine none the less. I turned it side to side, watching the stone gleam despite the fact there was little light in my room. But then I noticed something. The jaw to the silver dragon was wiggling a slight bit. I took the necklace off, gingerly touching the dragon's jaw with my finger. Nothing happened. I pressed up, and to my surprise the jaw unlatched and a scroll of paper came out.

I dropped the stone with the piece of paper, surprised. I bent down to pick it up, carefully handling the paper afraid that it would crumple to dust if handled wrong. Amazed, I slowly unrolled the scroll and read the now familiar, scraggly handwriting.

"The Last Will and Testament

Of

Grimbeard the Ghastly

I leave this to my true heir; the legend that made legends.

Because the best is not always the most obvious.

In hopes you will be a better leader than I was,

G.G."

My mouth gaping, I slowly read the letter over and over again. Closing my mouth, I slipped the Dragon Stone back on, and rolled back up the scroll. I put on my prosthetic, carefully to avoid the damaged flesh, and grabbed the little scroll. I limped to a nearly-bare shelf on my wall in the corner, where it was barely noticed. I reached up and placed the scroll right next to the only other item on the shelf, the 'breast hat' my Father had given me. Knowing the scroll was safe there, I brought my hand back down to my side, satisfied.

I smiled.

**A/N: I'm not sure if I like this. Do I? Wait one sec. . . no I'm not sure I do. This kinda erupted into its own little thing, I don't know hope you guys like it. Drabbles will be posted on Saturday. How many is undetermined, but it will be more than one because I appreciate every last one of you! Very much! : ) Ok. So, I think we're done here! Huh, I just finished a story! I'm gonna go celebrate by icing my aching wrists! Fun, right? Anyway, review! BTW: in the reviews, feel free to request a drabble you would like to see as one of the first chapters, or one you just think would be a good idea. I love prompts :D :D **

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